Take Your Time Coming Home
by hakanaii
Summary: Annie spends the remaining days of the year with Finnick, the Mellarks & their friends through outings & meals. But the holiday season continues to prove it has a bitter underside as she witnesses a near-death experience & faltering of mentalities. While Finnick reflects on the choices he's made in the last 6 years. They realize they can mend the hearts that have shattered. [pt.4]
1. Present: Swimming with Finnick & Noah

This is a continuation of Perfection in the Form of Topiary, We Owe it to Ourselves to Try and This is the Way You Left Me._  
_

* * *

_Present_

"Here," Finnick says as he hands me a paper cup of hot coffee. Annie can hardly feel the heat radiating from the steaming cup. This time, unlike many before, Tim Horton's decided to double cup her coffee. The one day she wouldn't have minded the heat, they do dual cup. Annie cannot blame them for filling the minimal requirements of their job. Those people work awful, long hours for only small paycheck.

"Thank you," she smiles at him as a yawn pulls itself from between her lips. It is eight o'clock on a particularly dark Saturday morning. Annie sitting in the front seat of Finnick's car with Noah and Rosy fully awake in the back seat.

"Annie, Annie, Annie! Ican'twaittoshowyouhowgoodIamatsw imming! Dad said I'm like a little fish. Rosy likes to make the fish bubbles for me. Just small ones. Cato's Mom doesn't like it when we make big ones." Noah says, now bouncing in his seat.

"If you don't calm down, you won't get to show Annie how well you swim at all," Finnick warns, his eyes staring at Noah intently through the review mirror. Noah makes a zipping motion over his mouth and places the 'key' in his jacket pocket. Neither Noah nor Rosy say a word until they arrive at Cato's home.

Cato's mum was the one to buzz them up into the building. When they reach the penthouse suite, Cato's mum – Mrs. Bosch – greets Finnick and the children warmly with smiles and hugs. Her eyes land on Annie last, a mix of bewilderment swirled within them as her lip curled under itself in distaste.

"Ms Cresta. Finnick didn't mention you would be sitting on the lesson this morning," Mrs. Bosch says, crossing her arms over her fairly exposed chest. She steps off to the side, leaving the path into her home clear. Annie remains in her spot. "Well, are you coming or not?" Mrs. Bosch spits out as her eyes narrow. Annie tries her best not to giggle. This is exactly what Finnick predicted would happen.

"She's just going to stare at me the whole time with those hungry, cougar eyes of hers," he casually tells her. "If you come with me, she won't have an excuse to come down and 'supervise'."

"I don't know. I don't want to be unwelcome..."

There is a long pause.

"She's the one intruding if anything."

"I don't know…"

"Annie, you are the first woman I have ever had to beg to come watch me swim."

"Can you at least ask her if it's alright?"

Finnick sighs, "And how am I going to explain why you want to come with us, hm? Lara isn't inhospitable; if you show up unannounced she won't say no. She's too pretentious to tarnish her reputation by being rude."

"If you insist…"

"I'm sure you look fantastic in a bathing suit."

"Cato, walk please. You could slip and fall," Annie's voice gently reminds the first grader as his feet carry him quickly across tile outside the pool. His pace slows down only a margin as he throws his towel by the wall and sits down in front of it.

Finnick is already swimming, doing a large number of laps before the rest of the children finished getting ready. It is as if he is some sort of water creature with the way he pushes and pulls through the waves. His strokes are quick and even as they carry him from the deep end, back to the shallow. He curls up against the wall before his feet spring him back into the water with a splash.

"Dad's almost done. I counted one time and he does ten laps before he makes his really super cool dive." Noah's excitement from the car ride is still present as he grins. The smile takes up most of his round face. Annie ruffles the boy's hair as she fixates herself onto her man in the water.

His back muscles twitch as he lifts himself from the pool with ease. The diving board is not particularly high, Finnick, however, does not seem to mind as he climbs the steps and bounces on the board gently. His eyes become distant as they stare idly into the deep water, the board still shifting under his feet. With a shake of his head, he looks up her, sending her a nearly unnoticeable wink before he launches his body into the air. He summersaults once before arching into a perfect nose dive. He cuts through the water without a splash.

Annie can hear the gasps come from Clove and Rosy as they clap and shout out how cool Noah's dad is. All Annie can do is blink. Over and over again. Words are not able to form in her mind.

"How was that, Annie?" Finnick asks as he walks towards her.

He's standing right in front of her, yet, she cannot see him. Her brain replays the event over again in a closed circuit loop. It was the most magnificent thing she had ever seen.

"Earth to Ms Cresta?" He waves his hand in front of her face.

"I think you broke her," Rosy points out, gently poking Annie's sides.

"I'm not broken. I'm just …" Outstanded? Thrilled? In utter catatonic shock? Annie could see how he had earned that scholarship.

"I'm glad to know Ms Cresta likes my technique too," Finnick smiles. "Do I get a sticker for doing a good job?"

"Sure, whatever you like," she blinks her way back into reality. Annie tries her best not to kiss that teasing smirk off his face. If she were not under the watchful eye of untrusting children, she would have given into her urge.

"I'll hold you too that," his smirk does not fade as he made his way over to the children. He gives them careful instructions on the day's lessons of putting their face in the water and using the flutter board to practise their kicking. Cato hangs on Finnick's every word, more so than he did with Ms Trinket last school year.

Clove, however, is the first to jump in once Finnick hands out the foam boards. Bouncing up and down in the shallow water she waits patiently as the rest of her classmates join her. One by one the kids slides into the pool until only Noah is left standing poolside.

"Are you not going in?" Annie asks, gently. Noah does not say anything. He only looks up at her with his big eyes, laced with uncertainty as he clenches the flutter board to his body. His reclusive side taking full form for the first time since Annie began to see him outside of school.

"Don't worry about him; he takes a little warming up. Once we start he'll join us," Finnick calls over, his smile still present. "He gets it from his mom. She was a very … cautious person."

Noah's face brightens unexpectedly, "I get it from my mom?" His feet pad over quickly as his grip loosens on the blue foam in his hands.

"Sure do, buddy. Ready to come in now?" Finnick squirts the tiniest bit of pool water out at his son through the space in his teeth. Noah giggles and nods while he jumps into his father's waiting arms. Annie feels her chest grow warm as she watches Finnick spin the boy around before placing him gently into the water. It is also the last time Finnick pays any special attention to his son. He equally distributes his time so each child gets the same amount of practise in the sixty-minute lesson.

Everyone struggled with a different aspect. Clove cannot make large enough bubbles; Cato cannot bob; Noah cannot hold his breath for more than five counts; and lastly, petite Rosy cannot kick hard enough. She can only propel herself at half the speed in which the other kids can. Any individual would grow flustered with the diverse set of complications, but Finnick takes it in stride and patience, leaving Annie thoroughly impressed.

"C'mon Rosy, kick so hard that Annie can feel your splashing by the wall," he calls, trying to get Rosy to smile. Her own frustration beginning to get the better of her.

"You can do it, Rosy," Clove's tiny voice screams out at her friend. "Kick harder!" But she cannot do it, no matter how much she moves her legs; they will not create a splash. No smile appears across her face once she meets up with the rest of the group. Only a pair of red cheeks and shiny eyes greet them.

"Ugh. You're such a cry baby. Grow up," Cato says, floating on his back. Before Finnick can open his mouth to reprimand the boy for being unfair, Clove smacks him upside the head with her flutter board. The boy lurches forward, arms and legs flailing as he dips under the water. Annie runs towards them in horror as Cato does not surface. She is ready to jump in and lift him up and out but Cato is already in Finnick's arms.

He hands Cato to Annie, who checks for a pulse on his cool, slippery skin. The blood is flowing but she cannot hear him breathing. Finnick hoists himself out of the water as practised hands clamp his nose and he push air into Cato's water-filled lungs.

Annie turns towards Clove, who is now the one with tears in her eyes and a dripping nose. Lifting the young girl out of the pool, Annie holds her close.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to really hurt him. I just wanted to stop him from being mean." Clove sniffles.

"I know, shh, he's going to be okay," Annie coos, giving her a final squeeze before helping Noah and Rosy out of the pool as well. They hover around Finnick as he pushes a final breath into Cato before the boy comes to life again. His body is shivering as he welcomes the towel Annie wraps him in.

"I want my mommy," Cato whimpers into her chest.

"I'll go get her," Finnick says, avoiding eye contact with the group. Wrapping his towel around his waist and slipping into his sandals he disappears into the change room.

The room is quiet, save for Cato and Clove's sniffling noses. Noah and Rosy do not move as their bodies, also, shiver from the cold air.

"How many times have Ms Trinket and I asked you to keep your hands to yourself, Clove?" Annie begins, her hands still rubbing circles into Cato's back.

Clove looks up under her eyelashes, sheepishly, "Too many."

"I would say so," Annie sighs. "The swimming pool is definitely not a place to push, shove or hit. If you were closer to the shallow head, Cato might have hit his head. He might have had to go to the hospital." The fear in Clove's eyes grew substantially as her eyes began to tear once more.

Lara Bosch is the first person through the main entrance doors followed by her husband and Clove's mother. Cato squirms out of Annie's arms and runs into his mother's and father's who hold onto their only son tightly. Clove's mother comes up to Annie, offering her a wary grin before sternly turning to her daughter.

"This just needed to happen before Christmas, didn't it?" Clove's mother mutters. Annie watches the woman drags her daughter into the change room. "You just had to go off and do something stupid. I knew this was a bad idea but your father never listens to me that fool."

"Thank you, for being here with them, Ms Cresta," Mr. Bosch steals her attention back to the situation at hand. He has let go of his son as Lara picks him up and carries him out of the pool area. "We will definitely be taking a break for a while but when we're ready to have Cato start lessons again, will you be here?"

Annie blinks, "But I-"

"Of course Ms Cresta will come back with us. I couldn't have done this without her," Finnick takes the offer for her, shaking Mr. Bosch's hand while offering him a gentle smile.

"I'll give you a call in the new year then. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year." Mr. Bosch wishes them, before following his wife and son out the door.

Noah and Rosy are huddled together by the wall, their toes scrunched up against the slippery tile, when Annie approaches them. "We should get going, hm?"

"Is my dad going to be okay?" Noah asks, his gaze focusing past Annie. She turns around to see Finnick had not followed her. Instead, he stands there, one hand in his hair another running down his face. Annie has no idea if he was going to be okay, well not yet anyways.

"How about we bring out stuff here, get changed and hopefully, by then, he'll be better," she answers. The kids nod and scurry into the change room to grab their backpacks. She fully turns to Finnick now, his whole body hunching over itself as he falls to the floor into a ball. The heels of his hands digging into his temples.

"Finnick…"

"He could have died."

"It was an accident."

"Do you have any idea how many times that little…little… girl uses the frickin' flutter board to hit him?! I keep telling her not to, but she frickin' does it anyways! She almost killed him today!"

"I know I-"

"Before Christmas! If he had hit his head on the tile they would have …" a crazed look appears vividly in his eyes as he tugs at bunches of his hair.

"But he didn't. You saved his life," Annie runs her hands through his hair and down his face. Cupping his cheeks in her hands, she pulls his face up and plants a short, sweet kiss on his lips. He kisses her back with more fervour.

"I can't imagine losing Noah, Annie." He wraps his arms around her waist and holds onto her tightly. "I just can't. He's the single most important person in my life."

The concentrated smell of chlorine fills her nose as she nuzzles her cheek against his head.

"I wouldn't know what I'd do with myself if I lost him, Annie."

"You aren't going to lose him. No one is going to take Noah away from you," she kisses the top of his head. No one had a right to take Noah away from Finnick.


	2. Six Years Ago: Finnick and Cashmere

_Six Years Ago  
_

Finnick liked to think of himself as a fairly responsible person. Whether it be a swim meet or class, he always wakes up an hour prior to ensure he has plenty of time to get ready. He made sure to always be prepared for classes with all the necessary materials. Sometimes, however, despite his constant attention to preparedness, he falters in his responsibility.

Standing in front of his dorm room, he hesitated to walk in. The murmurs and giggles of his roommate's girlfriend filters through the wood loudly. Normally he would not hesitate, as Madge practically lived in their room with them, but unlike usual he cannot hear his roommate's deep voice mingle with hers. For whatever the reason, Finnick has no intention of finding out.

"Gaallee, stop it! That tickles," Madge coos. Finnick shudders.

It's now or never. He sighs as he knocks on the door, "Magpie, it's me. Can you get off your knees a second and help me look for something?"

"Finnick!?" she squeaks, "I thought you were studying for finals?"

"I'm trying to. I seem to be missing my Accounting textbook, though. It should be on my desk. Can you hand it to me please?" He asks through a fragmented breath. Finnick can hear the creaking of a body shifting off the bed, along with the padding of her feet against the carpeted floor. Finnick can hear papers shuffling and books hitting the floor.

"It's not here, Odair," Gale is the one to answer. "You sure you don't have it?"

"Check under or beside my bed."

"Nothing," Gale confirms.

"The hell?" Disregarding all potential for intruding on the indecently dressed couple, Finnick walks into his room and goes to search for the book himself. Surprisingly so, Gale is right, and the textbook is nowhere to be found. It is not hidden in drawers or between cracks in the furniture either.

Turning to his friends, frazzled, he finds his nerves calm at the sight of Madge, dressed in only Gale's oversized t-shirts, and Gale himself wrapped in his swim towel. Finnick refrains from chuckling.

"Will you stop staring?" Gale says, sounding sour, which amuses Finnick further.

"Where was the last place you had it?" Madge interjects before Gale and Finnick can start one of their tiffs.

Where had he been the last time he had it? It was in tutorial the day before. He had been at his usual seat at the back of the classroom, took out the book and placed it on his right. The chair scraped against the tile on his left. He caught a whiff of tropical fruit body spray as she came to sit beside him.

"Shit," Finnick curses loudly, kicking at some papers on the floor. "Fucking piece of shit! She has it."

It is Gale who fills the room with his boisterous laugh as he nearly doubles over from his splitting sides.

"This isn't funny, Hawthorne," Finnick says, as he runs a hand through his hair. "This isn't funny at all."

"Oh yes it is! Everything that goes around, comes around, and bites you in the ass, Odair." Gale says as he wipes the tears out of the corner of his eyes. "This is what happens when you're nice to a total bitch. She starts keeping your stuff."

"Gale!" Madge scolds. "You are being unfair. There is nothing wrong with Finnick helping a girl in need…even if she is extremely rude to him most of the time." She says, while shimming into her crumpled sweat pants after lifting herself off Gale's bed.

"Why are you getting dressed, Madgey?" Gale reaches out and grasps his girlfriend's arm as she walks around him.

"I'm going to go with Finnick for moral support," she slings her backpack over her shoulder. "She's been temperamental lately. The last thing he needs is a textbook thrown at his face."

Gale frowns, "But we weren't finished yet." However, Madge does not say anything more and walks out of the boys' dorm room and into the hall.

"Ooh, you were done about two minutes ago," Finnick chuckles, following in Madge's footsteps. "Karma's the only bitch you should openly curse."

It is too quiet when Finnick and Madge arrive up at her room.

"Maybe she's at the library?" Madge offers as she presses her ear to the door.

"She lives in a single room, how much more private could her study area get?" Finnick asks in return, his ear also pressed up against the door.

"It was just a suggestion. She could be sleeping?"

"That's more probable," Finnick smiles while pulling away. "I should just come back later. I hit up the pool for a couple hours while I wait."

"You never stop, do you?" Madge smiles back. She is about to pull away from the door when she catches the most peculiar noise. It happens again and the concern etched in Madge's face in undeniable.

"What's wrong?"

"Hold on," Madge rapidly raps at the door. "Catherine, it's Madge Undersee from down the hall. Are you alright?" Madge presses her ear back to the door.

Even Finnick can hear the quick footfalls of her feet as they rush to answer the door. Unlocking the bolt, she swings the door back causing Madge to lose her footing.

Catherine "Cashmere" Reitz is the epitome of your wholesome, upper-class, all - American girl complete with long blonde hair, bright blue eyes and model-like figure. When you added in her University of Chicago undergraduate brother Glen "Gloss" Reitz, the family are WASPs through and through.

At this very moment, however, Catherine did not look at all the part of a multi-millionaire's daughter. Her cheeks, so ghostly pale, the light reflect from the hallway while contrasted by the blotchy red rims that frames her puffy eyes. The overwhelming smell of tropical fruit body spray that usually envelopes around her like a bubble is not present. Instead, the strong stench of vomit perforates through the air.

Catherine catches Madge's eye first. Her bottom lip begins to tremble as she makes an attempt to speak. Ceasing its movement with her teeth, Catherine nods her head upon answering Madge's concerns.

"Are you sure?" Madge reaches out, but Catherine takes a step back into her room. She nods again and nearly closes the door on Madge when she realizes who is standing behind her. Finnick watches as the fear that swims in Catherine's eyes ceases and the blue in her eyes turns sharp and piercing. Swinging the door open she stomps right up into Finnick's, inches from his face.

"You son of a fucking bitch," she spits out. Her voice is raw, as if her vocal folds had been chafed and stripped by a series of sharp objects. Catherine's fist finds his face, but the punch is weak. Finnick knows she does muscle training, he has seen her in the gym lifting the same weights as Gale. Her punch should have hurt. She is definitely not well.

She wobbles on her feet as she falls back from the punch her eyes brimming with tears.

"Cash," Finnick says, stepping forward, reaching out to catch her before she falls. "How about you go lie down?"

"How about you go fuck yourself instead?!" she shrieks, the tears rolling down her cheeks. "Why are you even here?!"

"You still have my textbook…"

Her eyes narrow. Spinning on her heels, she stomps back into her room.

"This fucking textbook," she wails, waving it above her head.

"Yeah, that's the one."

Her face scrunches up unpleasantly and whips the three pound textbook out the door. Aiming at, and hitting successfully, his crotch. "I hope you fail your exam, you cock sucker!"

The echo of the slamming door vibrates off the walls in the hall as Finnick curls up on the floor. He cannot seem to catch his breath long enough to even voice the agony. The two of them got along as well as oil and water. No matter how many times they interacted with one another, the result was always the same. The repelled each other. Except for that one time, about two months ago.

"Fin~nick," Madge hiccups and sniffles, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," he says, sitting up slowly. His groin is throbbing but he can manage. Pain builds character anyhow. Sitting up, Finnick shuffles over to the wall. His back scales the wall as it bares the majority of his weight. He takes careful steps towards the elevator with Madge beside him matching his pace step for step.

"Y'know, the girls wouldn't mind so much if you were a cock sucker," Madge tries to lighten the mood.

"Oh yeah?" He smirks. "I bet there's one girl in particular you have in mind."

The flush forming on Madge's face tint her cheeks a bright pink, "You know me too well, Odair."

Finnick's year ends with a bang. Between playing video games with his brother, Sebastian, until five in the morning; watching a football game with his Dad and Uncle the day after Christmas and swimming in the ocean, Finnick could not have felt more satisfied with his trip back home to Miami.

More than anything though, he finds himself ready to start the new semester and train his heart out. With grades no lower than a B minus and the Olympic Trials approaching, nothing can ruin this year for Finnick.

Except her.

The pair are about to begin their next set of dives, when Gale sees Madge and Catherine walk through the heavy set doors. Catherine looks less pale than the last time Finnick saw her, but still not to the same full colour he is used to. Her movements are careful as she walks closer to the wall than the edge of the pool, hands securely wrapped around her mid-section.

Madge waves at them and Gale waves back, "So, you patch things up with Cashmere over the break?"

"Haven't spoken to her, to be honest. Don't really want too. My groin can't take another hit. I don't think my little guys would be able to survive," Finnick says, bouncing gently on the diving board, turning his gaze away from their spectators. Gale roars with laughter as Finnick gives the visual countdown. Both men launch themselves into the air, not a millisecond out of sync, and crash into the water after a twist and a summersault.

They hear Madge hollering her head off once they surface. Her face is all a glow as she reaches down and congratulates Gale with a big kiss. Finnick lifts himself out of the pool, ready to grab his towel from the bench when he finds it dangling from Catherine's thin fingers.

"Thanks," he says while drying his face first. Catherine nods, her crystal eyes only holding his gaze for a second before they fall into her lap. "How was your break?" It is a safer question to ask than 'how are you' since he feels that whatever is sifting through her mind right now, it must be unpleasant. Catherine is not one to idly sit around and play with the hem of her shirt. She is an obnoxious do-er who takes the initiate and leadership role where she can.

"It was…alright. How was yours?" A warm smile graces her lips.

"Fine," he answers carefully while taking a step back.

She sighs, "I'm not going to bite you, Finnick."

"I beg to differ."

"Can we just… go, I dunno, somewhere and …um…talk privately, please?"

"Sure? Let me get changed first."

Having thrown on his sweats, they meet outside the change rooms. She takes him through a series of hallways until they are deep in the maze of corridors that make up the aquatic center.

"First of all, I'm sorry about throwing your textbook at your crotch. That was mean."

"Okay." He crosses his arms over his chest, staring directly at her as she fidgets with her clothing, pulling her t-shirt down. He only glances down for a second when he catches it. On her slim figure it is a glaring juxtaposition. His green eyes blink quickly and narrow as he quickly closes the gap between them. Catherine attempts to add space, but Finnick catches her wrist and pulls her closer. Her arms uncovering what she is attempting to hide.

It is not very big. No larger in size than a bloated person after a hefty meal. Regardless, it makes Finnick's blood run cold. Tears bubble in her blue eyes as she yanks her wrist out of his tightening grip. Pushing herself into the wall, she slides down until she hits the floor. She holds her head in her hands as she cries.

Finnick cannot find his words.

"My brother took me to the clinic over the break. It's confirmed. My parents don't know yet," she sniffles. "I don't know how the fuck I'm going to tell them."

Falling to the floor beside her, he too runs his hands over his face. This is not happening. They were safe; she made sure of it by having him to wear a condom in addition to her being on the pill. Or so they thought. It was a onetime thing. Something that happened in a desperate moment. She was crying, stressed and fairly convinced she was going to fail her Accounting mid-term. He eased her mind, worked with her slowly on each practise question until she was getting the answers perfect. She thanked him with an unexpected kiss. A kiss that felt too good to only share one.

"You are sure it's mine?"

"Can't be anyone else's, dumb fuck. You're the only guy I slept with in the last 3 months!"

"Right. Okay," he says running his hands over his face once more, hands steepling over his mouth. "I'm sorry."

"You're what?!"

"I said I'm sorry."

"You're sorry? You are sorry?!" This time, when she punches him, it hurts like it is supposed to. "You son of a bitch! You've single-handedly ruined my life and all you can tell me is that you are sorry! You're a one in a million, Finnick Odair." A fresh batch of tears pour down her face as his shoulder becomes her sand bag. He does not stop her even though his shoulder is throbbing in pain. He deserves it.

"I'm sorry."

"Stop saying that!" She finally stops punching him and rests her forehead on his shoulder. "Just stop. It's not making it better."

Kissing the top of her head, Finnick wraps his arm around her shoulders and pulls her closer to him. "We're going to get through this, okay?"

"You're going to help me?" She asks her blue eyes breathtakingly beautiful as they sparkle. Finnick remembers why he could not say no to her the first time.

"This is our baby." He rubs the bump of her stomach gently. "What kind of example would I be setting if I abandoned their mom?"

She kisses the smile off his face while adding a smile of her own. Maybe he has not ruined their lives after all.

Magpies share a family tree with Ravens and Crows. This makes them incredibly intelligent, bold yet intuitive birds that have a flare for shiny things. Madge earned her nickname, Magpie, after she deduced that Cray was the one selling pot to the freshmen. She succeeded in getting the low life off campus for good.

However, the origin of her nickname slips Finnick's mind as she comes to sit down with him at dinner several weeks later. He has his nose buried so far into his Economic notes he does not hear the crash of her tray on the plastic table. The scraping of metal on linoleum does not break his attention either.

"Finnick," Madge calls.

He flips the page idly.

"Finnick," she tries again. Nothing. "Gale's going to twist your balls if you're late to morning practise again!"

Finnick's eyes flicker up with terror, leaving Madge thoroughly amused with herself. Delly Cartwright shakes her head at her roommate's drastic actions but a smile tugs at her plushy cheeks.

"Sorry," Finnick mumbles as he closes this textbook. "How are you ladies doing this evening?"

Delly giggles, "Very well thank you, Finnick. How are you?"

"Oh y'know, busy being the intelligent pretty boy that I am," he winks at Delly, causing her to swoon. It's Madge's turn to shake her head. "Though, Magpie, you weren't serious about Gale were you? I apologized already for that."

"You know Gale, he likes to hold onto things."

"Guy has to work on letting go of his grudges."

"Hmm… yeah. Speaking of grudges, Cashmere seems like she's done throwing books at your junk. You two seem to be, oh how do I phrase it, more … agreeable lately. Cozy even. I saw you two making out outside her room last night. Care to share?" Madge inquires. Delly's face lights up as she leans forward, eager for the latest gossip.

Finnick sits back in his chair, putting distance between himself and the girls. "There is nothing to share. When she came by the pool last week we had a little chat. Realized we were the best thing for each other. She's not so bad when you get to know her."

Finnick knows that glint in Madge's eye. It is the same look she gives Gale when he claims to have not been watching porn. Utter and complete disbelief. But she does not press it. Delly, however, does.

"You're dating Cashmere now?! Oh my god oh my god! That's so…wow! Finnick! Oh my. Madge! Imagine if they get married! Oh my god! You two have to have kids! They would be too beautiful! Oh my god!" Delly's excitement blinds her from the sudden development of tension around the table. The way Finnick's back straightens against the chair, the sudden drop of the pen that has been twirling along with the way he blanches at Delly's comment does not escape Madge's watchful eye.

"I bet our little boy would be a heart breaker like his daddy," that sugary sweet voice whispers in his ear. Finnick turns around to see Catherine standing behind them, her textbooks strategically placed in front of her growing stomach. He blinks as she presses a gentle kiss to his lips.

"What are you doing here?" He asks, taking his backpack off the empty chair beside her.

"Hmm, I don't know, it's the cafeteria. You tell me?" she rolls her eyes as she sits down with a small thump.

Finnick jumps and reaches his hand out to grip hers. "No, I mean, I thought you were having dinner with your parents tonight."

"Changed my mind. I want something greasy."

"What's your mom making for dinner?"

"Salmon and steamed greens."

Finnick narrows his eyes, "You should go have dinner at home, Cathy. It's healthier for you."

"Shut up, I didn't ask you! Jesus Christ, I come over to say fucking hi and this is what I get." She stands up so quickly that she wobbles on her feet a little. Though, she does not fall since Finnick is holding the bulk of her weight.

"Be careful," he seethes, his hand that is not gripping hers is resting carefully on her core. That's when Madge sees it. With both people standing it's as clear as day what is going on. She holds in her gasp, as she too gets up from her seat at the table.

"Catherine, how about I grab you a burger at Burger King and we go have dinner in Finnick's room?"

Catherine turns to her with tears in her eyes and nods. Madge nods back as Finnick mouths a discreet 'I owe you one'. Oh, he will owe her more than one.

After her meal, Catherine curls up into Finnick's jersey sheets for a post-emotional crisis nap. Leaving her to nap in peace, Madge and Finnick close the door and camp out outside his room.

"So, when were you going to tell me?" she asks, staring hard at him.

"Tell you what?" he looks back at her, quizzically.

"That you got Cashmere pregnant."

Finnick sighs, running a hand through his hair. "Jesus Christ …"

"When were you going to tell me? When she's the size of a freaking balloon? After the baby's born?"

"I hadn't thought that far yet. I'm trying to keep her and the baby well, right now. You saw what just happened. This isn't easy."

"None of its freaking easy, Finnick. But you can't shut me out like this. You screwed up but I'm your friend. I can help you!"

"Help with what exactly? You don't have the punching bag body type. If Gale finds bruises on you he's…"

"No you idiot! Having female moral support is different than having support from the father. Cashmere looks like she could really use some," Madge says, resting her head on Finnick's shoulder. "I'd imagine this is really frightening time for her being so young and all."

"Yeah," Finnick rests his head on top of Madge's. They sit in silence as the muffled voice from a rock song plays in the distance.

"You're a good guy for sticking by her through this. I can say, without a doubt, that if it were some other guy, he would have run for the hills first sign."

"What kind of man would I be if I didn't take responsibility for my actions, Magpie?"

"Not much of one," Madge laughs. She draws swirls and patterns onto his jean clad thigh causing him to twitch. "You're going to have to tell Gale you know."

"I know," he sighs.

"Just... remind me not to be there when you do."


	3. 1 Year Ago: Finnick, Johanna & Noah

_Title taken from the song "Just Give Me A Reason" by PINK ft. Nate Ruess (F.U.N). I'm sorry that it took me about a month to get this update posted. A lot has happened in the last three weeks. My beta and I have worked out a new structure for the story. Chapter 4 and 5 are half done but be completed and posted until somewhere in December. A huge thank you to jeniezee for the fantastic beta work, as usual, and to __sabaceanbabe__ for posting the song! Her taste in music is impeccable!_

* * *

_1 year ago  
_

_The sun is blaring down on top of him, bronzing his cold, pasty skin. The white sand burns beneath his feet. He can feel every muscle in his body relax as each individual toe curls into the heat. _

_Looking out into the ocean, the water is as clear blue as a fresh water swimming pool. _

"_It's good to be home," he hears himself say. He can feel his skin begin to cool as a series of large, thick, gray clouds block the rays from the sun. The rumble of thunder reaches his ears before his sister's high pitched voice. _

"_Finnick, come inside before the water rises."_

_Suddenly, the beach sand transforms and as he tries to uncurl his toes, he finds himself sinking further into it._

_The thunder rumbles louder as he catches the first flash of lightening in his peripheral. _

"_C'mon Finnick!" it is his mother's voice, now, screeches at him from their back porch. He is still frozen in place._

_The ebb and flow of the tide quickens as another bolt of lightning strikes in the darkening sky. _

_With every shift of his leg, he finds himself a little bit deeper into the sand. _

_The initial waves of the ocean lap at his calves._

"_FINNICK!" she cries louder. _

_He sinks deeper._

_The water is up to his knees. _

"_FINNICK!" It is Gale's voice now._

_Water is up to his mid-thigh when it takes a sudden dip, only to be replaced by a menacing wave that consumes him._

"_DADDY!"_

Finnick wakes up with a start. The room is dark, save for the tiny night light that casts intricate shadows on the walls around the room and digital clock projecting '2:08' on the ceiling. He could not focus on any of them as sunspots and remnants of the tidal wave block his vision.

"Daddy!" Noah's tiny, weak voice calls again, tugging on his father's hand. Looking down at his son, Finnick finds himself reassured by the boy. He is not back in Miami, on a beach of quicksand. There is no Penny, Gale or his mother, just him and Noah in their tiny shared room in Johanna's townhouse.

But the afterglow of discovered reality fades quickly as Finnick takes in Noah's appearance. Ashen, sweating and trembling, Finnick touches his lips to his son's forehead – like his mother used to do to him– and Noah's skin is as hot as the sand.

"Buddy, you've got a fever," Finnick says, pulling back the covers of his own twin sized bed, he goes to pick up Noah but the five year old squirms away.

"My tummy hurts and it feels like there is something stuck in my throat," tears start to form in his tiny, green eyes.

"It's okay; let's go to the washroom okay? Breath through your nose," Finnick guides the boy out the door and down the hall to the bathroom, where, it did not take long for the contents in Noah's stomach to rise up and out right into the toilet bowl.

Tears spill down Noah's pallid face as he sits back onto the cool tile. "I'm sorry, Daddy."

"What for, kiddo?"

"For being sick," he sniffles.

Finnick runs a hand through his disheveled hair with a smile, "Noah, I'm your Dad. It's my job to take care of you, especially when you're sick." A smile quirks at the corners of the boy's mouth before another wave of nausea sends his head into the toilet again.

While Finnick rubs gentle circles into Noah's back, the door pushes open lightly as a frightening looking Johanna comes in. Running a hand through her short, skewed hair, Johanna's tired eyes look down at them as she wrinkles her nose.

"No matter how many times I've had to clean it up, I'm still not used to that shit."

"Jo, watch your language," Finnick scolds, as he flushes the toilet and ushers Noah to wash his hands.

"What? I say shit all the time! Don't I, Noah?" Johanna smiles teasingly down at the pasty boy, who nods his head slightly.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," Finnick sighs as he guides Noah out of the washroom and onto the couch of their small living room. Going back to bed to lie down, is something Finnick knows will not benefit either himself or Noah. It will only lead to an uncomfortably build of nausea in the boy's stomach and there is no guarantee Noah will make it to the washroom in time. The smell of vomit would linger in their room for days.

Grabbing a large, metal bowl from the kitchen, Finnick places it between his boy's hands before kissing his forehead. Falling onto the sofa beside him, he turns on the television to a station littered with boring cartoons to help distract Noah from his stomach.

The green numbers on the Roger's digital box blare out '2:46'. As he internally groans, reminding himself he has to be at work for nine he realizing that he still has all of his sick days. A smile presses itself on his face as the joy of small miracles relaxes his rigid body.

"So, the little monster's sick, huh?" Johanna comes up and sits on the arm rest of the sofa. The hair on the nape of her neck dripping tiny droplets of water, from her morning shower, onto Finnick's exposed arm.

Finnick looks up at her with heavy eyelids while trying his best not to roll his eyes, "No, he threw up because he wanted to."

"Snippy aren't we?"

"I've been up all morning with him, Johanna; I'm not really in the mood for your bullshit."

"Now who's using the inappropriate language," Johanna bites back.

"He's asleep," Finnick says, nodding over at Noah before turning off the television. The time on the digital box reading '7:32'. "About time."

Peeling himself from the leather exterior, Finnick scoops his sleeping five year old into his arms and carries him to his room. Removing the boy from sweat and vomit soaked pajamas he then slips him into a fresh pair. Tucking him under two thin blankets, Finnick leaves the washed metal bowl by Noah's bedside before leaving the room once more.

"Calling in sick?" Johanna asks from her spot at the kitchen table.

"Yeah."

"Good. I didn't wanna get stuck on puke duty and get sick from all the flying chunks."

"It doesn't work that way," Finnick says as he scrolls through his IPhone looking for his office's number. "Regardless, he's fine. Just needs to rest."

"Whatever you say," Johanna threw her hands up in defense. Finnick shakes his head and rolls his eyes.

The phone rings and rings before finally being picked up his boss' chirpy assistant who appears to paint her nails more often than doing actual work.

"Good Morning, Octavia, my love, how are you?" Finnick purrs.

Johanna snorts.

"Good Morning, Finnick. I am fantastic! How are you?"

"I'm alright. Unfortunately, Noah's not doing so well today. He's got a stomach bug," Finnick means only to verbalize his pout, though he unintentionally produces one too.

Johanna begins to howl in laughter and hold her sides together as they split. Finnick throws a look of alarm her way, gesturing over to Noah's room. Johanna shoves her fist into her mouth to repress her lurches of laughter.

"Oh no," Octavia screeches, "That's terrible. I hope he feels better soon! Poor little guy. "

"I'm sure he will be alright, he's asleep now," Finnick says, warmly. "I've been up all morning with him. But I'd like to keep an eye on him the rest of the day. Can you let Seneca know I won't be coming in today?" Finnick hums and he can hear her squeak on the other end as that signature blush of hers is quickly tinting her cheeks.

"Of course, Finnick, darling. Anything for you," she giggles before the sound of those Botox injected lips of hers smack in a kiss as she hangs up.

Placing his IPhone on the table, Finnick turns to a purple faced Johanna who looks like she is about to pee herself. Despite the fact that this is a frequent occurrence with Finnick, he can feel the shame build up inside him.

"You flirt with your boss' assistant? Really? I'm shocked you're not fired yet."

"His level of discomfort does not outweigh his feelings on my fantastic performance," Finnick says, not thinking twice about his word choice.

"And you're sleeping with your boss! You're priceless. You should be awarded Father-of-the-Year."

"Fuck, I'm no-"

"Daddy said a bad word," Noah's tiny voice trickles through the silence, his green eyes dancing in delight but shrouded in extreme fatigue.

"What'cha doing outta bed, buddy?"Finnick scoops the boy into his arms again.

"Auntie Jo's laughing woke me up. Then I had to use the washroom," Noah says. Finnick shoots her a dirty look. "But it's okay. I get to spend the day with Daddy!" he wraps his arms around his father's neck and squeezes tightly.

The loud buzzing of Finnick's vibrating phone draws his attention away from his son. Checking caller ID, Johanna sees it is from work and picks up the phone.

"Hello, Finnick Odair's phone. I'm sorry he's not available right now. Can I take a message?" Johanna uses a flawless secretary voice Finnick has never heard her use before in all the years they have known each other. Finnick can feel the pit of his stomach stir like it once did, back when he was sixteen and she, nineteen. Back when he loved her like a woman.

"No!" her sharp voice interrupts his thoughts. "He won't be coming in today, you cock sucking whore." Finnick covers Noah's ears instantly. "His son, you know the thing that two people who 'love each other very much' make, is sick. His flesh and blood takes priority over that stupid, fucking ass job he has to do to put food on the fucki-"

Johanna pauses, her breathing short as she listens impatiently.

"I don't give a shit if he has a fucking important meeting today! Noah. Is. Sick. He's taking the day off!" she hangs up and throws the phone across the room at the opposite wall where it smashes and breaks. The chair topples onto the floor as Johanna vehemently gets up and storms out making her way into her bedroom and slamming the door.

Uncovering Noah's ears, he puts the boy down on the ground with a sigh, "Guess Daddy has to go into work after all. Sorry. I'll try to get home early so we can have dinner together, okay?"

Noah wraps his arms around his father's waist and holds tight, "Okay."

"Be good for Auntie Jo. If you need something, have her call me at work." Finnick leans down and kisses the top of his head. "You should go back to bed, though. I'll say goodbye before I leave, okay?"

"Okay," Noah nods, turning onto his heel and heading back to his room. Running a hand through his grease soaked hair; Finnick does not need to hear Noah say it in order for him to know he has disappointed his son. However, he's filled with pride knowing that Noah is developing his level of patience and flexibility. One more part of their son Cashmere cannot claim as her own.

After his quick shower, Finnick pads into his room to find Noah curled up in his bed amongst the white bed sheets. Leaning over, he tucks Noah's dark, matted, wavy hair behind his ear before kissing the sleeping child on the forehead. Slipping on a white shirt and blue tie Finnick grabs his suit case and leaves the room.

Johanna's bedroom door is still shut as he walks by it. Resisting the urge to knock, Finnick leaves a note on the fridge instead with a specific set of instructions. He makes sure to sign a heart at the end of his name, in an effort to soften her mood.

It is eight-thirty seven in the morning and he has at least six hours left of his day. With a sigh, Finnick walks out the front door with heavy steps.

The last time Finnick remembers being this anxious is when he and Gale were waiting for their final scores at the FINA Diving World Cup years ago. Back then, all he had to calm himself were his hands wringing circles around each other. Now, he knots a short strand of rope he keeps in his desk drawer.

His eyes flicker around his cubicle at the pictures of Noah with Johanna and the Mellarks pinned to the plush walls. Bouncing on his office while knotting and unknotting his rope, Finnick cannot help but sigh once his eyes fall onto the time on his phone. Two-twelve in the afternoon. He specifically asked Johanna to call him after one, whether or not she encounters a problem.

She has not done so yet.

Finnick could feel his fingers burn from the friction of the rope against his soft skin. The tiny analog clock on his desk ticking loudly as afternoon gossip filters through the room. The monotony of the day only exacerbates his anxiety.

_What if Noah got worse? _

He makes another knot.

_What if it is too much for her to handle? _

And another.

_It's not her responsibility. I should've stayed home. _

And another.

"Maybe I should just call her," he sighs, wrapping the rope around his fingers. Sitting back in his chair, he picks up the receiver and dials home first. The phone rings. And rings. And rings. And rings. Hanging up, he tries her cellphone next. However, the results are the same.

"Where is _she_?!" Finnick seethes under his breath as whips the rope at his computer monitor, causing it to wake up. He feels his anger slip away as Noah's face smiles back at him from his desktop.

"Where is who?"A voice cut through his thoughts causing him to jump. Looking over the top of his computer, his co-worker, Venia, is looking down at him with a dark, raised eyebrow.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it," Finnick flashes a fake smile at her. "Is there something I can do for you?"

"Actually, yes!" Venia says with a genuine smile and outstretched arms. A large stack of folders rests between her fingers. "I know you have a project you're working on right now, but Messalla insisted I have you check over my work. He said you're magnificent with numbers."

Finnick sighs as he sits back in his office chair, "How long is it going to take? I am planning on leaving in an hour."

"It shouldn't be that long just a few calculations," Venia insists as she rounds the corner of his cubicle. She cannot help but giggle as she notices the photos on the walls. A smile quirks onto Finnick's face.

"How _is _the little guy doing?" Venia asks, as she sits down in the rolling chair she brought with her.

"Sick at home with a stomach bug," Finnick says, taking a folder from her hands, he flips through the first booklet. Right on the first page, he notices she has made an error even an elementary school student could catch.

"Poor thing. I hope he feels better soon. Who's watching him?"

"His Aunt," he says with a pen cap in his mouth as he scribbles down the corrections.

"She's the one who's supposed to call?"

"Yes."

"How come his mom isn't taking care of him?" Venia hums as she spins around in her chair like a child. Looking over at her for a second, Finnick can see his narrow green eyes reflect back in her wide brown ones.

Venia tries to keep up a steady conversation while he works. Finnick covers for his minimal replies with the excuse of trying to concentrate. However, he refuses to acknowledge her nosiness with honest answers. He refuses to arm another woman in this office with a fresh strain of gossip. If Noah does not get to know his who his mother is, neither do they.

Johanna does not try to call once. Throughout the entire re-calculating of Cressida's numbers, Finnick did not leave his chair once. Not to grab a coffee, dinner or even for a washroom break. He begrudgingly there and works with all the remaining ounces of this patience. He finally gave up after four hours.

Standing outside their home, Finnick can feel body ache in unhealthy ways. Turning the key into the lock he pushes inside the town house, nearly collapsing on the floor in exhaustion. But he catches himself with a loud step. His second step makes his vision blur and the third causes him to acknowledge his dizziness.

"Fuck," he breathes as he slides his socked feet to the living room. Falling onto the couch, face first; he can feel the full force of his pain.

"Watch your language, Odair. Or the swearing police is going to write you up," Johanna whispers out of nowhere, with a grin. He groans at her in response as he shoves her away, forcefully.

"Shut the hell up, Mason. You're so full of shit. Don't you get tired of it?"

"What crawled up your ass, you ungrateful bastard?" She says, punching him in the shoulder. "I stayed home with your kid all day. He's still pretty sick, his fever kicked in again and even toast wouldn't stay down."

Bolting into an upright position, Finnick is not sure if it is the head rush that brings on the blurred vision or if the dizziness came back. "Why didn't you call me then?! I thought you didn't want to be on puke duty?"

"You know that wouldn't have made a difference, right? I would have been here with the two of you anyhow," Johanna crosses her arms over her chest. "I thought I might as well just handle it, which I did an ok job of, mind you. It wasn't so bad."

"Fuck Johanna, I didn't ask you to handle it! That's my responsibility! All I asked you to do was call me and check in, but you're too much of a fucking masochist to have done it!" Finnick can hear his voice raise a notch in volume.

"You have a phone too, Odair! You could have fucking called me if you were so fucking concerned!" Johanna spits back.

Finnick stays silent as he stands his full six feet three inches in front of Johanna's much shorter, slender body. He cannot help but remember their first fight, he towered over top of her much like he is right now. Her temper was much more fiery back then, she used to be unstable and let emotion be the kindle to her flames. However, the Johanna Mason that stands before him now is calm, logical even, and enveloped in the essence of maturity.

"I tried! You wouldn't answer."

"You should have kept trying then!"

"I did! On and off for four hours!"

Johanna narrows her gaze as she rolls her eyes upwards, contemplating. "Oh. I was on the phone with Roger's trying to get your phone fixed."

Finnick blinks, "What?"

"Memory of an ox, I swear," Johanna rolls her eyes, "I smashed your phone against the wall at breakfast. I salvaged the sim card and tried to get the thing fixed. You can't go without a phone. I thought … I could give you one less thing to worry about."

He did not know what to say. It is not as if Johanna is a cold-hearted monster, but going out of her way to put someone at ease is not something Finnick could ever recall Johanna doing.

"Thank you," Finnick smiles, as the tension wafts out of his body in wisps. Reaching his hand out to up her face, he strokes her cheek with his palm, "You didn't have to do that though. You have a life of your own, Jo. I don't want you to sacrifice any more of your time for me. You've done so much already. "

"Finn," she starts, those brown eyes of hers exemplify youth. The old nickname twists his heart like a corkscrew in a wine bottle. He feels eighteen again. With his university acceptance letter in his hand, ready to break Johanna's fragile heart all over again. "You have a full-time job and are a single parent to a young child who needs your love and attention so much so that you forget to take care of yourself."

"I knew what I was getting into when I said yes four years ago. I chose to let you back in my life because …" she takes a deep breath. "I am 29 and single, Finnick. I can hear my biological clock laughing at me. When you showed up at my door that day ... I said yes because I wanted to be the one to give a child good home. To give you a good home. Somewhere you and Noah could be yourselves and not feel judged by society."

Johanna never cries. Not when her parents got divorced. Nor did she shed a tear when she watched him board his plane to Illinois. Standing before him now with her watering eyes and her uneven breaths, Finnick knows he has accomplished the impossible.

"I want to help share the responsibility if it means you get to be your old, easy-going self again."

"Johanna, I-"

"Shut up," she tries to catch the tears as they fall, but her short, slender fingers cannot hide them fast enough. "Before you say something stupid."

He wraps his arms around her waist and holds onto her tight. "Anna," he whispers into the shell of her ear. "I am being serious. I'm sorry; I shouldn't have started to yell." Finnick squeezes her tighter. "Thank you for, again, today. For everything up to today. I really appreciate it. "

Taking her head out from the crook of his neck, those wet brown eyes of hers meet his sympathetic green ones. And with a tug of his lips in a lopsided smile, Finnick knows what's about to happen.

Her arms enclose around his neck as her fingers sift through his thick, darkening hair, latching on tightly. Pulling his head down towards hers, she forces their lips to meet in a long lost, since-forgetten, familiarity.

Hoisting her body onto his hips, he kisses her back with unadulterated need. Sweeping his tongue over the scar of her split lip, he coaxes them to part. Her grip on him tightens as falls back onto the couch. Licking the inside of her mouth quickly carefully, Finnick avoids areas he knows to be sensitive like her back molars and soft palate. Johanna has a tendency to squeak when she is tickled.

"Noah," Finnick realizes, pulling himself from Johanna. "What if he wakes up? How am I going to explain this?"

Johanna smirks, eyelids dropping while pushing her hips, roughly, into his along with light kisses across his tense jaw and exposed neck. "Finn, you tell him that his Auntie Johanna is giving you the best head you've ever gotten. And when he's sixteen, he'll find a woman just like me that will do even better things to his dick."

Finnick's lips mirror her smirk, "How do you know I haven't had better?" His hands snake up her up her t-shirt and along her spine while her hands make quick work on the knot in his tie and buttons on his shirt.

"Oh, hunny, that little Barbie doll you knocked up in college has nothing on me," Johanna laughs as her nails scrap down his abdomen before unlatching thick, leather belt wrapped around his hips. Popping the button, she slowly unzips the fly which brings a gurgled groan from his lips. Satisfied by his level of desperation, Johanna slides her hand down the hem and grasps her thin fingers around him tightly.

Finnick tries to hold it in as her hand lazily grazes up and down his cock. Biting his tongue, he holds back the groan in the back of his throat, threatening to escape. Giving a huff in satisfaction, Johanna slides out of his lap with a final kiss to his lips, and onto her knees.

"You shouldn't underestimate the rich and horny, Anna," he says with a slow breath as she flicks the tip with the apex of her tongue. A loud and clear groan slips past his lips as the initial throb pulses through his body. Taking the entirety of his head into her mouth, she swirls the body of her tongue around the soft skin, forcing him to curl his toes against the hardwood floor in an attempt to repress another noise.

"Anna," Finnick tries to keep his voice even as she slips half of him past her lips and pulls her cheeks in with the first bob of her head.

He can recall her technique better than some of the mathematics he uses every day. Johanna has always been a tease when it came to sex. She liked to listen to him beg. Though that was the joy Johanna found in her game. As he has her between his legs again after eight years, he cannot find it in him to care whether she toyed with him or made the experience short and painless.

Pulling another inch between her lips, after covering the first few in a hot, sloppy, mess he can feel her teeth graze him. His hands fly into her short, thin hair as he tries to navigate her off of him, but she refuses to let go as another portion of his cock is swallowed.

He slowly breathes out his nose as he bites into his cheek trying even more desperately not to moan. Gripping her thin locks, he holds her as she sets a quick pace of downs, ups and arounds.

"An-na," he tries again, struggling much more than before.

"Yes, Finn?" Her voice resonates against his shaft sending a warmth down his spine and a contraction into his stomach muscles. "Ready to come for me?" she says, looking up at him. He chokes on his own breath, caught in the increased lust Johanna has engulfed him in. He pulls her closer towards him on reflex, making her take him into her mouth until the tip brushes the back of her throat.

She does not move. Every muscle in her body rests perfectly still. A gentle coax of his hand down the back of her neck is all it takes for her to progress slowly. Carefully. Intentionally avoiding her teeth.

It is almost too much to bear as Johanna develops a steady pace. He can feel his heart beat with so much intensity that it could burst through his chest.

"Almost there yet? My face hurts," Johanna says, his cock still securely between her lips. The rapid vibration of her vocal cords around him has Finnick in shambles. Coming completely undone, his head falls back on the edge of the sofa as he tries to catch his lost breath.

"How was that?"she asks with her head in his lap. "Better than Catherine, right?"

"It was … different," he answers. "She's daintier, both were good though."

"You couldn't just appease me, could you?" she asks, standing up and falling onto the couch beside him.

Finnick shrugs as a roar of a yawn rips through his chest, "You're a beautiful piece of nostalgia, Johanna. That's infinitely more important to me than how well you compare to Catherine's ability to blow me."

He barely registers that the house goes silent for a moment, too caught in his haze of release and exhaustion.

"Y'know what, Odair?"

"What?"

"Even half asleep you know exactly what to say."

"It's a gift." Finnick smirks, eyes fluttering shut.

Finnick wakes up in the exact same spot he fell asleep in. Dressed in yesterday's clothing, he silently curses himself for wrinkling his last good white shirt. The least Johanna could have done take it off for him, especially since she had the courtesy to put him back in his pants.

The room is streaked in weak rays of light that poke through the blinds. Shadows form oddly against the walls and miscellaneous objects take on new shapes. Finnick gets up lazily as he tries to make sense of his surroundings. His eyes dart around until they find the digital cable box, where he reads the time, 7:38 am, clearly even through his blurry, stinging vision. Falling asleep with his contacts still in was not a good idea.

Sitting up straight and lifting himself off the couch, the disks in his spine pop in a revolting melody. "I really should start jogging again," Finnick mumbles to himself as he drags his body into the washroom. Taking out and tossing his disposable contacts into the trash, he rinses the horrid morning breath out of his mouth.

Finnick makes sure to open the door to his bedroom quietly as to not to wake Noah prematurely. However the tiniest creak of the floor boards have Noah bolting up from between the sheets of his father's bed. "Daddy?"

Finnick smiles, "Yeah, buddy, it's me. Sleep well?"

"You said we'd have dinner together last night," Noah frowns with his lower lip jutted out. Finnick refrains from chuckling as the gesture duplicates the one Catherine used to give him.

"I'm sorry, I had to work late. When I came home, I crashed on the couch and fell asleep."

Squirming out from under the covers, Noah crawls across the bed to where Finnick is standing. That cold, hard look in his eyes replicates his mother's ferocity to a tee. "You shouldn't yell at Auntie Jo. That's not nice, Daddy."

"I know," Finnick says. "I told her I was sorry, though."

"Good. Because I love when Daddy's nice the best," Noah says, giving him a big hug.

"I love you too, kiddo. Are you hungry?"

"A little."

"How about we try some toast, okay?" Noah wrinkles his nose before nodding his head. Giving the boy a kiss on the cheek, Finnick picks him up and carries him into the kitchen to find Johanna is already there. A cup of coffee in her hand, she carefully sips at it as she reads the morning paper.

"Morning Auntie Jo," Noah says, wiggling out of his father's arms and over to Johanna for a hug.

"Morning squirt, coffee?" she offers but he shakes his head giggling sweet and harmoniously. "What would you like then?"

"Can Auntie Jo make me toast and honey, please?"

"No honey for that tummy," she turns around from her place at the counter and pokes him in the stomach. "Not until you're one-hundred percent better."

"Fiiinne," Noah says as he climbs into his booster seat. "Can I have milk though?"

"Buddy, seriously. Toast and water. We talked about this yesterday," Johanna's eyebrows knit together as she uncaps the thermometer, pokes it into his mouth and under his tongue.

"Daadddy, canth Ith hafu milkth pthease?"

"If Auntie Jo said no, then it's a no. I can't help you," Finnick shrugs as he takes the cream out of the fridge, along with a loaf of bread and lunch meats.

"Not fair!" Noah whines.

"Yes fair! Now shush already before I make you wear the shoes with the laces that your idiot dad bought," Johanna threatens, successfully frightening the boy. However, it also earns her a pointed look from Finnick.

Not another word comes out of Noah's mouth until after he consumes his breakfast by announcing he is going to get ready for school.

"I'll be there in a minute," Finnick answers, placing the last piece of bread on the sandwich made for Noah's lunch.

One can hear a pin drop in their tiny kitchen at this very moment. Neither Finnick nor Johanna speaks a word to each other as they consumed their breakfast. It does not have to be said for them to know they had made a mistake last night. Upon moving in together, Finnick and Johanna had set ground rules, which mostly consisted of nonsense such as Finnick could only do his laundry on Mondays. Those rules became inapplicable after their first year together in this home. Laundry was laundry; it got done when it needed to get done regardless of the day of the week.

However, in the four years they have lived together, the one rule they both abide by is the no intimacy rule. They forbid themselves from having sex with complete strangers inside these four walls. Exposing Noah to the routine of one-night stands would warp his perception of love and affection. Something neither Finnick nor Johanna want Noah to misunderstand.

The sound of rushing water from the sink brings Finnick out of his head. Johanna's rinsing her cup and plate while humming a pop tune under her breath. He probably will not get another chance alone with her until later tonight. But this needs to be settled now, before it becomes too uncomfortable to deal with.

"Johanna, about what happened last night…" Finnick starts, placing his coffee and paper onto the table but he does not get to finish as she cups her hand over his mouth.

"Don't bust your balls over it, Odair. You looked like you needed it," she says, teasingly. "If you were in my shoes, I know you'd do it for me too." She pats one of his scruffy cheeks gently while pulling herself up to her full height. "Though y'know, you could always make it up to me with dinner."

Finnick laughs, shaking his head, "Does six o'clock tonight work for you?"

"Not a minute later or I'm going over to Peeta's to grab a knife so I can slit your throat," Johanna says with a hint of playfulness. But only a hint.

He laps up the last tendrils of coffee before placing his own cup in the sink. Heading off to his bedroom, Johanna in his path. "Excuse me?" he asks, but she refuses to side step him. Her body is rigid as she closes the distance between them. With a hand on his chest, her eyes stare directly up into his, begging for something as they flicker, vividly, like Christmas lights. The fleeting glint, conveying an emotion unknown to him, disappears quickly as it emerged. The gentle wriggle of her nose pulls Finnick out of his daze.

"You smell like a whore house. Go shower, you bum."

"Thanks, Anna," he says, rolling his eyes. Taking a wide stride to his left, she mirrors him, still not letting his pass. Her eyes dance in last night's reincarnated youth as she perches herself on the balls of her feet. Cradling his jaw in her too small hands, Johanna places her lips onto his, tenderly. She sweeps her tongue along the seam as she coaxes his mouth to open to let her in. Finnick does not reciprocate her movements, remaining still he watches as her eyes crinkle around the edges like they frequently do when she is embarrassed and unsure of herself.

"Dumbass," she curses, falling to the soles of her feet. While laughing forcefully, she shoves him. "You taste like diabetes. Maybe you should cut back on the sugar."

"Over my dead body, Jo," Finnick laughs airily before darting past her and into his bedroom, leaving her to stand in the kitchen, alone.

"Auntie Katniss has been the only one to pick us up so you haven't met her yet," Noah casually says breaking the silence in the car.

"Met who?" Finnick asks, looking back in the rear-view mirror at Noah. Despite his finicky stomach, Noah is placid. Watching people out the window idly, he does appear to be fazed by the rocking motion of the car. The ability to get right back up once they fall down, is something Finnick would have never fathomed to comprehend in children until he had Noah.

"Ms Cresta. She's our new helper. She's really nice," Noah continues, turning up and looking back at Finnick.

"But?" Finnick presses, yet Noah only shrugs before going back to look out the window. "What's wrong with Ms Cresta?"

"She's strange. "

"Strange how?" Finnick makes a sharp left turn unintentionally. His eyes flicking back to Noah, the boy does not look like he is uncomfortable or going to be nausea at all.

"She's really quiet. She only talks when someone asks her a question."

"Maybe she's nervous. She's new in your classroom, Noah. That doesn't mean she's strange."

"I know that," Noah sighs. "She's strange not only because she's quiet but because… she smiles weird too. She doesn't smile with her teeth. It is like when Auntie Katniss tells us Uncle Peeta is doing okay when he's really sick."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Finnick makes a right turn into the school. The parking lot is filled to the brim with parent and teacher vehicles making it incredibly difficult to not only navigate along the tarmac but finding a spot as well.

"You think she's strange too, don't you!"

"No, not at all. Ms Cresta is a very strong woman; there is nothing strange about that. Maybe you can get her to smile normally, though, if you were really nice to her back."

"Okay," Noah chirps with a smile on his face. "I'll be really nice to her."

"That's my boy," Finnick reaches back and grabs his son's thigh and squeezes it.

It is moments like these that Finnick feels most proud of their quaint little family. It is not much but it is something that the three of them have worked hard to construct even if it is not perfect. However, it works for them and Finnick could not feel more confident in himself that he made the right choice all those years ago.

Once he finds a parking spot and takes Noah out of his booster seat, Finnick firmly grasps onto his son's hand as they maneuver around other cars to the classroom. Like a dog on their first walk of the day, Noah sets their quick, nearly running pace towards the gate of the enclosed playground around the kindergarten door.

"That's her!" Noah points with a short finger at the brunette standing behind the fence off in a corner. She watches the children run around quietly while the parents speak animatedly amongst each other. Despite her introverted appearance, Finnick finds himself drawn to her simplicity. Ms Cresta has kept her makeup to a minimal, emphasizing the blue-green of her eyes rather than drowning them in dark tones. Her long, brown hair falls over one shoulder in a loose pony tail, which she is wrapping around her idle fingers. The gesture is nearly unnoticeable, making it that much more charming.

"Daddy, c'mon! Let's go say hi!" Noah drags him along with all the strength a five year old can muster. Finnick follows with ease. He makes one long, glide after another until he finds himself standing three foot away from her when Lara Bosch trills his name across the playground. Inadvertently, Lara spooks Ms Cresta causing her to stare out into their direction like a deer caught in headlights.

"Finnick," she cries again, curling her fingers in an awkward wave at him. He sends her a smile back, which pulls those surgically altered lips of her to stretch wider than her Botox injected face would let her. He does not risk another look back at Ms Cresta; the sudden release of Noah's hand in his tells him more than enough.

"Next time," Finnick pats his son's head. "I promise."

_He is in his backyard, sitting in a beach chair. The sun shines low giving summer heat taking a rest of its own. _

_Taking a short sip from the beer in his hand, he discovers it is warm. But he drinks more of it anyways. _

"_You look cozy," Madge's giggle echoes in his ear. As he turns to look over at her, it is not Madge's body that takes up the empty chair, but his sister's. "You should wear a sweater though."_

"_I'll be alright," he says, leaning back and watching the sun set behind the horizon. _

"_Aww, but Nana made it just for you. She worked really hard on it," Madge's voice badgers him as Penny's lips pout. _

"_You say that every time Nana Mags makes me a sweater."_

"_But she wants you to stay warm in Canada," this time, it is Johanna's voice that gently nags him. _

"_Fine. Go get me the sweater then, I'm not moving."_

"_Finnick Odair, you are 27 years old, go get your own clothes you lazy bastard," it is Cashmere's turn to harass him. Leaving his beer where it is, and getting out of his chair, he only sees Cashmere standing behind him with a perfectly shaped eyebrow raised and a dainty foot tapping. "Well? Are you going then?" _

_He laughs to himself as he walks past her, not bothering to reach out to her. _

_Finnick does not realize how cold he is until coming into the kitchen. It smells like Christmas._

"_Mom," he calls out padding further into the kitchen. He can see the oven is left on for the Odair Family traditional roast to cook. "Mom?" he tries again, walking further into the house. _

"_Your mom isn't here. She went to the store." Finnick does not recognize the voice this time. _

_Running out into the main hallway, he can hear the stairs creak as a brunette comes down the stairs. Her hair is unnaturally long and her blue-green eyes dance and sparkle in the artificial light. She reminds him of his mother. _

"_Daddy, isn't she pretty?" Noah pipes in suddenly. Appearing out of thin air, his face glows in pride. _

_Finnick looks down at his son thoroughly confused, "Yeah, she is."_

"_I knew you would think so Daddy."_

"_Who is she though?" He asks but Noah does not answer. Only smiles. And she, smiles as well, with ever steps she takes. _

_Hopping off the last step, Finnick can see her features in full and it clicks. Her giggle fills the house like it does the playground. With that bright smile of hers she climbs onto her tip toes and brushes a kiss to his lips. _

Finnick wakes slowly. Patting the covers of his bed, he takes comfort in solitude. It was all a dream. There was no Madge, Penny, Johanna or Cashmere to nag him or invade his privacy. He is all alone and at complete peace.

That is when it comes back readily and without warning. Annie Cresta's glowing face smiling at him before she reached up from a kiss. He can feel his lips tingle like he has experienced his first kiss all over again. Trying to preserve the feeling, Finnick sweeps the pad of his finger over his bottom lip.

He had dreamed of Annie Cresta, intimately. She was stunningly, beautiful in the way only a dream could emphasis. Finnick runs a hand through his hair and down his face; he can feel the heat from his cheeks as large bunches of shame swirl inside of him.

"It just had to be her, didn't it? Out of all the women in this city," drives his fists into the closed sockets of his eyes letting a small groan slip between his lips.

Checking the time on the clock as he rolls over onto the cooler side of the bed, the red numbers, reading 4:04, remind him he has to be up in three hours for work. Shifting over onto his stomach, he wraps his arms around the white cottons pillows before burying his face in it. With a yawn, he finds his eyes growing heavy again. All remnants of his dream lost in his subconscious.

It had only been a dream. Nothing more, nothing less. It meant nothing.


	4. Present: Baking with Peeta & Rosy

Summary: Annie bakes cookies at the Mellarks with Peeta and Rosy, until Katniss gets home with her close friends. However, Finnick had not warned Annie the extent of what it means to be in a room with Peeta Mellark.

Notes: A huge huge huge huge thank you to my beta, jeniezee, for all her wonderful, hard work as usual :D and to for-prim, for being just an awesome friend and giving me advice :)

* * *

_Present_

Annie is the one to drive everyone home from the Boschs' apartment building. Finnick is still in too much of a state of shock to be able to drive safely. He unfurls in the passenger seat, feet on the dashboard as his hands twist the drawstrings of his sweatshirt into intricate knots. Every now and then, his eyes would dart up and stare blankly out the front window. The swish of the window wipers is the only noise inside the car.

"Rosy, what do you usually do on Christmas Eve with your parents?" Annie breaks the silence as she comes to a stop at a red light.

"Hm? Oh Daddy and I bake cookies for Santa while Mommy hums along to the radio. She's not a good a baker like daddy so she isn't really in the kitchen much. After all the cookies are baked, we have dinner and watch TV and then I go to bed early so I can catch Santa when he comes."

"Sounds like a fun day."

"You should come bake with me and Daddy! Mommy is going to get her friends from the airport so Daddy and I will be alone. Daddy isn't allowed to be alone with us even with Brutus there."

"Brutus? You mean your dog?" Annie asks, as she turns onto their street.

"Peeta's got a condition," Finnick says, straightening up in his seat, "If Katniss is going to be out, it's better if someone's there with him. Just in case. Normally, she'd have me or Johanna sit in with him."

"But Annie hasn't tried Daddy's cookies before, so Annie should be the one to do it!" Rosy exclaims.

"Is that okay with you, Finnick? You don't mind?" Annie reaches her hand out to him, resting it gently on his thigh.

"Not at all," he smiles, squeezing her hand. "I could use some… time to myself."

"Call if you need anything, please." Annie parks the car in the tiny strip that is the Odair-Mason household driveway. Finnick brings her hand to his lips and kisses the wool that surrounds it.

"I'll be fine. You have fun." His smile stretches warily.

"Promise you'll call."

"It really is sexy when you use your teacher voice," Finnick growls.

"Ewww! Daddy, you're being gross," Noah whines as he unbuckles his seat belt from the booster seat. Then he helps Rosy with hers while his father's laughter fills the car and a blush covers Annie's entire face.

"I'm home," Rosy's voice trills as she walks in the door. A variety of smells waft through Annie's nose as she follows in behind her, they become stronger the closer Annie is to the kitchen.

The Mellark household is not very big even for a town house. However everything is open concept making the narrow hallways and small rooms look larger than it is. It is quaint, and feels to be the perfect size to raise a family. Annie cannot help but smile.

Peeta pokes his head out into the hallway, greeting them with a smile, "Good afternoon, Annie."

"Afternoon."

"Did Rosy convince you to join us?"

"More or less," Annie says, patting the little girl on the head. "Oh, Rosy, your hair's still wet. You should go dry it."

Rosy squirms away from Annie's touch and shakes her head, "It'll dry in the kitchen."

"Sweetie pie, you'll catch a cold tomorrow if you don't dry your hair. Santa might not come if you get sick," Peeta warns. Like any child, the topic of no Santa Claus frightens her considerably. Rosy's legs rush her up the winding stairs and onto the second floor where she screams for her mother to dry her hair.

The room falls into a comfortable silence as Peeta turns around and opens the oven. The fresh scent of ginger lingers in the air and makes Annie's nose wrinke. Over his shoulder, she can see the ginger cookies are shaped into little people of all different sizes.

"Those are absolutely adorable," Annie coos as she comes to take a closer look. It is as if Peeta tried to give gender to the little people as well since some had skirts over top of their legs while others had pants.

Peeta chuckles, "They're Rosy's favourite. She insists on leaving them out for Santa every year."

"She likes to let Santa know she loves her family and she hopes he delivers presents to everyone, right?" Annie smiles down at the two cookie sheets with eight people on each tray. They are arranged so that two men, two women, one little girl and two little boys lay rest on each set of foil.

"She told you?"

"I was the one that helped her spell 'deliver' on the assignment," Annie looks up at Peeta, then back down at the cookies. "Why is there an extra of ever cookie except the little girl?"

"That's our whooollle family," Rosy says as she bounces into the room and steps onto her tip toes to see the cooling cookies. Scooping her up in his arms, Peeta gives her a bird's eye view of the little people. "There is Daddy, Mommy, Me and Aidyn. Then there is Noah, Uncle Finnick and Auntie Jo because they're family too, right Daddy?"

"Right, Pumpkin," Peeta nuzzles his cheek into her dry, brown hair, tied into a braided bun on top of her head. "Hm, you smell yummier than the kitchen. Did Mommy wash your hair too?"

"Yeah," Rosy nods as Peeta puts her down. "Mommy's in the shower now. When she's done she's going to go get her friends then we can all eat cookies together before Santa comes!"

Annie giggles. It is because of children like Rosy that she decided to get into teaching. They light up the entire room with their smiles and laughter even if they were uncooperative, stubborn little devils only moments before.

She watches as Rosy twirls in her velvet dress and thick, white stockings around the kitchen table before deciding to sit down. "Can we ice the gingerbreads yet?"

"I just took them out; it'll be a little while before we can do that. How about you find another recipe to make in the meantime?" Peeta suggests, causing his daughter's bright blue eyes to grow with excitement. Annie watches as Peeta hobbles over to the kitchen table and sits down carefully. A rather stiff looking leg fans out first while the more flexible one guides him onto the chair.

Annie tries hard not to stare at the stretched out leg. But in the two years that she has been teaching Rosy, and in those two years that she has seen Peeta, not once has he limped like he did moments ago. Catching herself staring, she glances up to see that Peeta has caught her as well. The careful smile on his lips ebbs some of her embarrassment.

"I'm sorry," she mumbles, her eyes flickering to her hands.

"It's alright," Peeta says, patting her folded hands gently. The clicking of claws against tile distracts Annie and Peeta from one another. Brutus is a lot bigger than Annie had imagined. He is a brown and black German Sheppard that strides into the room with the demeanor of a sleepy puppy before curling up atop of Peeta's feet.

"Okay, I'm heading off. I should be no longer than a couple hours. Knowing Gale, they're probably checked into their hotel by now," Katniss says, straightening her forest green sweatshirt as she joins them in the kitchen. "Peeta, I just put Aidyn down for a nap so he should be conked until I get back. No need to worry about him. Annie, if anything happens, please call Finnick. He'll know what to do, so don't worry."

"Take a deep breath, ma'am." Annie says, surprising Katniss. Peeta chuckles as Katniss inhales deeply. "I'm not worried, you're in good hands. Finnick would not have put me in this situation if he did not think I am capable of handling it."

"Alright," Katniss sighs. "I'll see you all soon then." Making her way around the tiny table she plants a kiss on her husband's cheek and then one on her daughter's forehead.

"Bye, Mommy!" Rosy stands up on her chair and waves, only to have Peeta wrap his arms around her and place her back in her seat. Katniss leaves with an unintentional slam of the door.

"So, Rosy, have you picked what you want to bake yet?" Peeta asks as he watches his daughter sift through pages upon pages but not actually reading the words. Rosy's eyebrows knit together as she flips pages faster and faster only to grow more and more frustrated.

"Annie, I can't find it! Can you help me look for them?" Rosy whines as flips all the way back to page one of the section.

"What am I looking for?"

"The sugar cookies Uncle Finnick likes," Rosy answers with a grin. "You love Uncle Finnick, right? I saw you kiss him like Mommy kisses Daddy sometimes. We should bake the cookies he likes best. Then you can give them to him." Annie face turns beet red as Peeta's soft blue eyes turn to her, dangerously.

"When did this happen, Rosy?" Peeta's voice stays even, with a hint of a surprised tone.

"Today, at the swimming pool when Uncle Finnick was looking really lost, like Daddy does sometimes. Annie kissed him like Mommy kisses you. He looked all happy afterwards," Rosy says, with a smile. However, it quickly fades as Peeta's face loses its cheer and his eyes cloud over. She recognizes the way the lines in his face tight and the slight hunch in his frame. Annie instinctively reaches out to him, to give him something to feel grounded to, like she had done all those years ago with her mother.

However, Brutus shifts first as he comes out into the open from under the table. Placing his front paws into Peeta's lap, Brutus nudges his nose into his hands. Gripping onto him tightly, the tension in Peeta's body loosens. Looking down at his dog, Peeta gives him a thorough petting before Brutus slinks back to his original napping position.

"Annie, the sugar cookies aren't in that book," Peeta's full smile returns. Opening up another book full of baked goods from across the table, Peeta finds the recipe on his first try. "How about you read out the ingredients and Rosy and I will find them?" Annie nods. She has a feeling Finnick did not realize the severity of Peeta's condition when he left her in charge.

"Now, in a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Stir into butter mixture in 3 additions," Annie reads out the instructions for Rosy. She drops in a new set of ingredients every time Peeta turns off the mixer. After his short episode, he seems to be more cheerful, though infinitely more cautious. He keeps his distance from Rosy and makes sure Brutus is 'on duty' with his vest securely wrapped around his body.

"What next?"Rosy asks, peeking over into the book to see

"Wrap in cellophane and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour," Annie adds before closing the cover. Rosy groans.

"Patience, pumpkin. That's the secret to baking," Peeta taps her small, flat nose with his index finger. She wrinkles her nose before hoping out of her seat to get the box of saran wrap.

Even though there was no metal edge to the saran wrap box, Peeta insists on measuring out the appropriate length of plastic for the balls of dough. He has to peel away Rosy's tiny fingers as she begins to poke the wrapped dough.

"Can we frost the Gingerbread people now?!" Rosy sing-songs and twirls in her dress as Peeta puts the last of the dough in the fridge.

"Sure, they should be cool enough by now."

Rosy squeals in delight as she jumps back into her chair with the booster seat. "What kind of frosting are we going to make?"

"Already made it, sweetie," Peeta smiles as she pulls several small piping bags full of different coloured icing.

"You said we were going to do it together," she bottom lip juts out in a pout and her eyebrows knit together as she stares at the bags.

"I did say that, you're right. I'm sorry I did it without you. Will you forgive me?" Peeta leans in, his nose touches Rosy's. The muscles in her face relax as a smile stretches across her face while nodding her head.

"You'll make the sugar cookie icing with me right?"

"Course, pumpkin," Peeta kisses her nose pulling a giggle from her lips. He gives her a bag of pink vanilla icing, one that is much too large for her hands. Peeta brings both trays of cookies over to the table and places the little girl gingerbread onto a napkin in front of Rosy. Grasping her tiny hands, he helps her squeeze the icing around the edges of the gingerbread girl's skirt.

Memories suddenly flood back to Annie all at once. She remembers the last Christmas she shared with her whole family. How her father had smiled, just like Peeta, as he brought in the ornament boxes from the garage while he told a lame pun about how ornate the tree was going to be. Her brother had rolled his eyes before unraveling the lights from their spool and weaving them through the branches of the synthetic pine tree. Her mother and laughed genuinely and happily, with no sign of hysteria, at her boys. It had been the last Christmas Annie had felt warm. As she watches Peeta and Rosy, Annie can feel her heartstrings pull and her body grow cold. All the makeshift families she creates in this world can never replace the shattered one she lost.

Picking the cookies one by one off the tray, Annie leaves them on a plate before heading over to clean the kitchenware.

"Oh, Annie, you don't have to do that. I'll do it later. Come help," Peeta turns to her, offering her that fatherly smile.

"I don't mind. You have your moment with Rosy. It's important; you'll never get it back," she says, turning back to the sink filled with hot, soapy water. He will never get it back. By next Christmas, who knows what Rosy will be like? Would she still want to bake cookies with her Dad? Or would she rather sing with her Mom or play with Noah down the street. Either way, it is not something Annie wants Peeta to regret especially not in order to accommodate someone like her. A complete and utter stranger.

"Those look beautiful, Rosy. Nice work," Peeta gives her a squeeze. The little gingerbread families are fully decorated, littered with icing and sparkles, while the baked sugar cookies lay resting in their icing sugar frosting in the shapes of stars, Christmas trees and snowmen.

Her bright blue eyes twinkle as her warm, pink cheeks dimple with a smile and gives Peeta a hug back. "Can I go over and play with Noah then?"

"You just saw Noah this morning, aren't you tired of him?"

Rosy shakes her brown, braided head, "Nope! I could play with Noah all day and never get bored!"

Annie laughs lightly as Peeta sighs, defeated, "Alright. Wash your hands and I'll walk you over. Is that okay, Annie? I'll just be a few minutes."

"Of course. Take as much time as you need," she smiles, as she gathers the newly dirtied utensils and brings them over to the sink.

"No, I want Annie to take me! You need to tell Uncle Finnick we're baking him sugar cookies," Rosy continues to huff. Peeta looks down at her, bemused.

"Wouldn't it be better if we surprised him?"Annie counters. "I bet Finnick's surprised face would be funny."

Bouncing on the balls of her toes, Rosy rolls her eyes up, then giggles. "Uncle Finnick is very very loud when he is surprised. Auntie Jo tells him to … be quiet very meanly."

Peeta shrugs at Annie as he lifts Rosy up and over to the sink. Running her tiny hands under the warm water, she giggles as it flies back and squirts her in the face. Grabbing the dish towel, Peeta dries the little girl's hands before ushering her to the front door. Helping her into her oversized coat and heavy winter boots, Peeta then wraps a scarf around his neck mouthing a quick 'thank you' before heading out the door.

Annie washes half the cookie cutters by the time Peeta gets back. Popping her head out of the kitchen door, she comes face to face with a huffing Peeta with his back against the wall. Taking his shoes off slowly, Annie watches as he visibly winces once he puts pressure on his bad leg.

"Do you need some help, Mr. Mellark?"

"It's … okay. I'm fine," he says, hobbling over onto the sofa in the open living room. Falling along the length of the sofa, Peeta breathes out a large sigh. "Would you… um… do me a huge favour? Can you wake up Aidyn? He won't sleep through the night otherwise."

"I won't spook him, will I?"

"Aidyn's tough and stubborn like his mom. It takes a lot for him to be scared."

"Alright."

The ten month old has his eyes wide open when Annie creeps into his dark room. Turning his head towards her, his gray eyes are wide and sparkling as a tiny, toothless grin is directed at her. Aidyn's tiny, chubby arms shoot up into the air as his fists grab at the air. Annie giggles as she picks up the boy from his crib and cradles him in her arms.

"Hi there, Aidyn," Annie coos while holds him in your arms. "How about we go see Daddy now, hm?" The baby gurgles at her, offering another smile before Annie bounds back down the winding stairs to the living room. Aidyn's tiny, blond curls bounce in rhythm to Annie's footfalls, making him smile wider.

"You're a natural," Peeta calls out from the couch as the two enter the room. He is stretches out to his full length of the couch, his head dangling over the arm rest while one foot pushes against the other end of the couch. His other leg, made of plastic and metal, lies on the carpet in front of him. Catching her line of vision, Peeta sighs deeply.

"I'm due for a new one. The thing is chafing like crazy," he gives her a lopsided smile but Annie only blinks. Sitting in an upright position, Peeta places his good leg on the ground and makes a reach for the prosthetic.

" , if it's bothering you, you don't have to wear it," Annie says, sitting down beside him. Peeta looks up at her with a quirked blond eyebrow. She nods in return before Peeta places the leg back onto the floor. Scooping his son from her arms, Peeta sits Aidyn on his good leg where he bounces the boy gently until a laugh trickles out. Annie watches as the calf-less leg lays dormant on the sofa, not twitching or shifting. Only resting and appearing useless.

"So, Finnick had a meltdown this morning?" Peeta asks, lifting his son up into the air to place a kiss on the boy's cheek while checking the boy's diaper at the same time. "It isn't like him to have one in public."

"Does he have them in private more often?"

Peeta rolls his eyes upwards, "Not particularly…he's the 'suffer in silence' type. So it had to be earth shattering to have him drop his mask."

"Oh...um…well Cato almost drowned. Clove had hit him over the head with a flutter board," Annie says, watching as Peeta places Aidyn on the ground. Puts his leg back on and make his way, slowly, to the other side of the room where a diaper bag is tucked into the corner behind the sofa. "After Finnick saved the boy's life, he … got caught up on this idea that he could lose Noah."

"That's when you kissed him," Peeta inquires, scooping up the crawling baby and placing the child onto the changing mat he sets down.

"It was the only thing I could think of that I knew would help him. I had no intention of letting the kids see. I'm sorry."Annie twirls a lose tendril of her hair around her finger. Peeta looks over at her. Where she expects icy disapproval, Annie gets the warm glow of admiration. After securing the diaper around Aidyn's waist and placing the boy in his playpen, he shrugs heavily. Slowly, he limps back over to Annie and slumps down on the couch beside her. Swinging his fake leg across her straightened legs, he offers Annie an amiable smile.

"Finnick's very lucky to have you, Annie," he says, softly, as he leans the side of his head against the back of the couch. "To accept him at his worst, so readily, is such a rare trait to find in another person."

Annie looks down at Peeta's leg and then up into his happily, dancing irises. "It can't be that rare. I'm sure Mrs. Mellark is accepting too."

Annie feels Peeta's leg jerk, violently, in her lap. Turning towards him, Peeta becomes rigid like he had in the kitchen, except the control he had in front of Rosy is non-existent with only Annie present. The heels of his hands dig into his temples as he claws at his hair and scalp. His lips move but do not make a sound while his eyes are screwed shut. Annie feels as if it is the first Christmas without her brother all over again. Aidyn's gurgling ceases and Brutus' nails clicking against the floor come quickly as the dog jumps between his owner and Annie.

"P-peeta…" Annie's voice trembles. Brutus paws tenaciously at his hands. "Peeta, look at me, please. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say something wrong. Everything's alright. You're alright. Nothing's going to hurt you."

His mouth stops moving and hands loosen their hold. Peeta's watery blue eyes open carefully. He stares past his dog and towards at her. He blinks once. Wrapping his arms around Brutus' neck, he pulls the dog close as the rest of Peeta's body relaxes.

He squeezes Brutus once more, before letting the dog hop out of his lap and lay to rest by his side. "Mrs. Mellark is my mother, not my wife." Peeta sighs. "Growing up … I didn't exactly have a picture perfect relationship with my mother. She didn't take the fact that I'm schizophrenic very well. She always thought that whatever my two, healthy, older brothers can do, I could do just as well. Obviously, I couldn't, so she lashed out. Up until I was 18 and moved in with Katniss, my mother would abuse me. She'd beat me hardest when I was having an episode."

"Since then, she's become one of the voices inside my head. So to give me peace of mind, everyone just calls my wife Katniss or Ms Everdeen." Peeta adds with a calming smile.

Annie finds herself unable to think a coherent thought. Her mouth gaps as her lips try to form the absent words.

The jiggling of the lock on the front door breaks their silence as a boisterous voice seeps through thin layers of wood. "I'm telling you, Madge, that boy looked_ just_ like him." A tall, well-built man with shoulder length dark hair, that frames his strong jaw and handsome features, steps into the house behind Katniss.

"Having green eyes and dark hair isn't uncommon, Gale." Annie's ears perk up as her eyes jump to the much smaller, blond woman that comes in behind the man. The couple take off their shoes and hang their scarves and coats in the hallway closet.

The man notices them first, but does not offer a smile. The man's strides into the living room are wide and swift. His lips are tight in a scowl as his slate gray eyes pierce in their direction. Peeta smiles and waves.

"Nice to see you again, Gale," Peeta straightens his composure, throwing his legs out of Annie's lap and onto the floor. "How was the flight?"

"It would have been faster if we drove," Gale says, his eyes releasing their hold on Peeta's as he stands up. He turns to Annie, his gaze scorching with accusation. "Who's this?" he asks with a snarl as he sizes her up.

"Family friend. She works as a teaching assistant in Rosy's class," Peeta grins, smugly, over his shoulder at Gale as he greets Katniss with a hug and kiss. "Rosy is a sweetie and wanted her to come over and make cookies with us."

The truth did not seem to satisfy Gale. He looks as if he wants to say more but his blond companion saddles up beside him, her face illuminated. Her baby blue eyes sparkle as she, too, scans across Annie's sitting figure. The sudden attention is starting to make her very uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry, where are my manners. Annie, this is Gale Hawthorne and Madge Undersee. Katniss and I grew up with them in Virginia. Gale and Madge, Annie Cresta." Annie nods at the couple slightly. Gale nods back, his gray eyes softening. However, the simple gesture is not enough for Madge as she envelopes Annie into a hug. Her eyes are dilated in recognition as the corners of her fair pink lips rise high into her cheek bones.

"So you're Annie. I've heard so much about you," Madge's tiny voice tinkles Annie's ear before pulling away. "It's wonderful to meet you."

Annie blinks with a smile, "It's nice to meet you too."

"Katniss, Peeta, is Annie coming to dinner as well?" Madge calls out to them, her neck craning behind her so that she voice carries into the kitchen.

"Annie is welcome to stay if she doesn't have other plans. We have enough room," Katniss answers as she feeds Aidyn with a bottle of formula.

"Katniss is a rotten cook and I could use an experienced pair of hands in the kitchen," Peeta teases, earning him a pointed look from Katniss. Annie giggles.

Christmas dinner with the Mellarks' and their friends, without her bourgeois extended family. Annie liked the sound of that. Rolling up the sleeves on her white, knit sweater, Annie walks into the kitchen with a smile. "How can I help?"


	5. Past: GaleMadge, FinnickCashmere

**_Summary_:**This thing was a masterpiece until you tore it all up.

**_Note:_ **Manqué means 'having failed to become what one might have been'.

Thank you forever and always to by beta, jeniezee for all her hard work! She never disappoints me :) And a thank you to all of you for reading and supporting this story! You have no idea how much it means to me! Also, there is a playlist for this chapter which can be found at .com.

Next Chapter: will be full of glorious finn/annie I promise!

* * *

_Past_

Gales loves his family more than anything. As the oldest of four children, he takes it upon himself to take care of his brothers and sister. Guide them in the right direction and demonstrate responsibility. Which is why when Rory secludes himself, Gale becomes concerned. Though what Gale and his parents believe to be a result from bullying, they soon realize Rory's behaviour arises from something far worse.

It is after his seventh birthday that Rory falls victim to retinal cancer. Their mother, Hazelle, is more endearing and positive towards Rory during the day, but Gale can hear the way she cries and prays for her son's health at night. For the first few months she makes all of his favourite foods for dinner, which puts a smile on Rory's face, if only for a little while. When he starts radiation therapy, however, no matter what their mom makes, he can only nibble at it. The rest he pushes around his place. Nothing stays down.

Their father tries to be supportive where he can, by helping around the house and taking Vick to school. But Gale knows they need the paycheck more than the extra hands in the house.

With each set of treatments Rory undergoes, Gale realizes his family is growing deeper and deeper into debt.

"You can come over and work for my dad," Madge, his beautiful, charming girlfriend tells him one afternoon as they rest by the edge of the pool. "He always seems to need someone new to keep his papers in order."

"Madgey, I'm really not so great with those things," he frowns.

"So? I'll help you! As long as you do most of the work, I can guarantee you'll get that paycheck every two weeks."

That day is the first time he tells her he loves her.

* * *

The money from Gale's part-time job helps substantially with his family's problems. One paycheck is able to put a week's worth of food in everyone's stomach and buys Posy diapers for the rest of the month. His hours are also flexible, giving him the time to study and make afterschool swim meets.

Even with Gale's money going towards food and necessities, his father cannot earn enough to pay any more than the minimum on their medical bills. The interest increases exponentially over the months.

When Gale is sixteen, his father takes his own life.

The insurance settlement covers a portion of the cost but not enough to prevent the government from taking their house to cover the remaining debt.

"I'm not leaving town, silly," Gale comforts Madge as she cries into his chest. They are lying, naked, beneath her silk bed sheets. "Ma says we're being put into government housing. It's just a few extra blocks away. I'll still be going to District Twelve Secondary. So, don't you worry your pretty head, okay?"

"Okay," she sniffles, looking up at him with her big blue eyes and squeezing him tightly.

"When we have a family, I'll make sure we're not living in poverty," he says while running his fingers through her hair.

"Even if we are, I'd happily live in poverty with you," Madge plants a kiss on his lips. "I love you, Gale."

"I love you too, Madgey."

* * *

Gale tries every day to make good on the promise he made to Madge. Every time he leaps into that swimming pool, he reminds himself that he does it for her, for their life together, and for their children who will someday need a father capable of taking care of them.

It is when he meets Finnick Odair that Gale's plan begins to develop flaws.

During their first year at Illinois State University, Gale watches as Madge develops this touchy-feely relationship with Finnick. He is as handsome as they come with his tall, lean yet muscular physique, hair bronzed from the Miami sun, and green eyes that flicker blue when reflecting the pool water.

Gale does not feel threatened by Finnick's good looks but by his colleague's abilities. With a grade point average of 3.5 and shockingly agile in the pool, it makes Gale look dumb and slow in comparison. Worst of all, Gale finds he would be able to deal with all of Finnick's charm if he were a narcissist. But he is not. Finnick's modesty and subtle charm in the presence of lust-driven women makes Gale sick to his stomach. So he decides to ignore his teammate during swim meets and when they cross paths in the hall and during classes.

"It'd be nice if you got to know Finnick," Madge casually says, cuddling up into his dark body after he rolls off her naked form,and onto the cotton sheets of his bed.

Gale looks at her incredulously out of the corner of his eye, "Please tell me that is not who you were just thinking about ."

"He's a really nice guy. Really easy to talk to. Though, he seems to be having a hard time making guy friends."

"…you don't say."

"Gale, please, I'm being serious. It won't kill you to go talk to him. You have nothing to lose. The two of you are part of the same athletic department. You can bond over it or something…"

"Madgey, baby, I love you," he kisses the tip of her nose.

"But no. Finnick's a big boy; he doesn't need you to make friends for him."

Shifting out from underneath his arm, Madge puts some distance between them. "Are you saying I'm not allowed to be worried about my friend? He's overwhelmed with all the attention and he could really use someone, who isn't a girl, to hear him out!"

"Overwhelmed? Really? Last time I saw him, which was this morning mind you, he seemed pretty damn comfortable with the sophomores that threw themselves at him." Gale says, reaching out for her. Madge pulls away further.

"Finnick isn't rude. If you talked to your teammate and got to know him you would understand!"

"Madge, I'm not going to try and be friends with him!"Gale shouts. She sighs as she sits up. Shuffling out from under his sheets, she slips into her clothes that lay askew on the floor.

"Wait, where are you going?" he grasps onto her wrist but she tugs it away, fiercely.

"When you want to stop being a stubborn asshole, come find me," she says as her voice hitches. The one thing Gale swore he would never do is make his sweet, little Madge cry. Yet here she is, with tears bubbling up in her eyes, and Gale can feel his stomach twist in guilt.

"Alright, alright! I'll talk to him," he pulls on a pair pants as he chases her out the door. Spinning her around on the balls of her feet, he envelops her in his arms. "I'm sorry, please don't cry."

Wrapping her arms around his waist, she nuzzles her cheek into his still bare chest. "Thank you," she smiles and kisses him gently, her eyes miraculously dry.

Talking to Finnick that first day did not turn out terribly. It had been awkward. But Gale sticks with it for Madge. As weeks turn into months, Gale realizes he and Finnick share one very important aspect in common. They have similar taste in beer. Neither man drinks domestic brands, only imported ones.

"I don't how those pussies on the football team drink that crap," Gale retorts as he sips idly at his Heineken, his focus trained on tapes of diving competitions from previous years. Coach Atala lists this as a requirement for their training after assigning them as partners.

"With your determination, Mr. Hawthorne, and Mr. Odair's natural skill, it only makes sense for the two of you to represent Illinois State as a synchronized team at competitions."

"You kinda answered your own question," Finnick answers, raising his eyebrow as he looks over at Gale on the other side of the duct taped leather sofa.

"What?"

"It's basic logic. Coors Light is for pussies. The football team drinks Coors light; therefore the football team is made up of pussies."

"Oh. Right. I knew that."

"Sure you did, Hawthorne," Finnick says as he takes a long sip of his Heineken.

"Fuck you, Odair," Gale says as he punches Finnick in the shoulder. It is a soft tap. An on-looker may even be so bold as to call it playfully. The gesture hangs in the air as a particularly large round of cheers blares out distortedly from Finnick's television speakers. Gale retracts his arm slowly from Finnick's shoulder.

Finnick does not say a word, only blinks.

"Uh. Sorry about that. I-"

"No," Finnick interjects. "It's fine, Gale. Really. I don't mind." Gale expresses the inklings of a nervous smile in contrast to Finnick's wide spread grin that illuminates his entire face. Ignoring the whiteness of Finnick's teeth, Gale laughs and clasps Finnick shoulder as he shuffles closer to him.

That night, Gale crashes on Finnick's floor and listens to the most popular student in the university gush about his family, his life in Miami, and how swimming became the most important thing in the world to him.

* * *

By winter of second year, they move in together. Gale still has reservations about Finnick, but those concerns affect their friendship minimally and their partnership in the pool, even less. They become an unrivalled duo that make the other university teams look like novices. No team can make a two and a half twist into a dive like Finnick and Gale. Their routine becomes an intricate dance, at a waltzing pace, between the two of them. A dance they refuse to do without the other. Some days, even as Finnick mumbles loudly on the plane ride back to Illinois from whichever state they have last competed in, Gale feels closer to Finnick than own brothers.

The first time Gale meets Cashmere is when he and Finnick are at the gym one morning for training. Clad in a pair of white short-shorts that hug her thighs and backside scrumptiously, a skin tight black sports bra that leaves her flat midriff exposed and long, straight blond hair tied on top of her head in a neat ponytail, Gale can feel his mouth grow dry.

Unlike every other girl in the room, she is completely lost in her routine, paying no mind to the boys as they bench press. When she finally steps off the treadmill, Finnick and Gale are switching spotting duties. Lying himself down onto the bench, Gale reaches up for the 140 pound bar when Cashmere glides over to them. The rubber tip of the water bottle is secure between her teeth as her tongue laps at the drops of water trickling out. Gale does not realize he runs his tongue over his bottom lip until Finnick nudges him in the side of his wide spread legs.

"Kind of pretentious of you, walking around without a shirt at the gym, isn't it?" Cashmere scoffs, his face. Or so he thinks. He looks down at himself, patting his shirt clad chest before sitting up and looking up at her, quizzically. "Those poor girls' panties didn't even stand a chance, Finnick."

Gale looks back at his roommate from the far end of the bench. He is standing there blinking at her. The smirk on her full red lips grows ever wider. "All that sun over the winter break must have fried your brain as it highlighted your hair. I thought you were supposed to be smart."  
"I'm plenty smart, darling," Finnick side-steps out from behind Gale, "I also have a quite the memory too. However, your name seems to be slipping mine." Gale watches as Finnick's finger grazes the skin on her forearm ever so gently. "Would you please remind me?"

Cashmere's long blond hair whips around her shoulders as she looks back at him with those crystal blue eyes from under her thick, false black lashes. She flutters her eyelashes. "Catherine Reitz. Everyone calls me Cashmere."

"That's a beautiful nickname," Finnick says, closing the space between them and wrapping one hand around her slender waist the other grasps onto her free hand, "and it belongs to such a beautiful woman." His lips part slightly as he tilts his head down pulling her hand up. Ghosting over her pale skin, his green eyes stare pointedly as his lips part in a simple question, _'May I?'_

Gale watches as her eyes flicker in contemplation. She is going to say yes to him like every other girl who Finnick took the time to flirt back with. Cashmere's red lips tug at the corners into a smile as those long fingers of hers yank themselves out of his hold, curl around his shoulders only to unfurl and give him a hard shove him.

"No."

With his mouth agape, Finnick trips over his feet and bumps into Gale.

All at once, the room falls silent. Gale can feel every pair of eyes turn to them. The inaudible sound of dozens of breaking hearts brings the room back to life, rescuing Gale and Finnick from being the center of attention.

Gale sputters out a laugh, bringing Cashmere's frantic eyes to him. Her crystal blues scrutinize his body swiftly, before a laugh trickles out of her full lips.

"Gale, darling," her voice pitches abnormally high, as she leans over him. "I think you should… do something about this?" she breaths into his ear, forcing his expanded thighs shut. He catches himself on the balls of his feet before he can fly forward and land on his face. "It's not appropriate conduct for the gym."

"Put on proper clothes and you won't have this problem," Gale spits back, watching as something turns cold and wicked in her eyes.

"If I'm not mistaken, I read somewhere that you have a girlfriend. What's her name again…Maddie, Maggie...?"

_"Madge."_

"Really? How boring." Cashmere twirls a golden lock around her finger. "Now I kinda feel bad. Go ahead, Gale, look all you want. Maybe it'll give you something to fantasize about while you two are in sack."

Gale looks straight up into her eyes, they giggle in torment. He can feel every vein in his body burn in vehement rage. Balling his hands into fists, Gale is up and out of the room before Finnick can stop him. If he had stayed one more moment, Gale would have broken her plastic nose.

Making his way into the change room, Gale violently rips his locker open, pulls out his everyday clothes and strips down, out of his sweaty ones. "Fucking vain cunt," he mumbles under his breath as pulls his shirt over his head and buttons his jeans. Throwing his gym bag over his shoulder, Gale slams his locker shut.

"You're actually going to let her get to you?" Finnick voice echoes through the empty room as he hovers in the doorway. "You're better than this, Hawthorne." Gale does not hesitate to shove Finnick into the doorframe and walks past him, hurriedly.

"Gale!" Finnick calls out to him, but he does not turn around. Reason is beyond his ears. Cashmere had no right to judge Madge. Madge is ten times the human being Cashmere has shown herself to be. Her arrogance is going to get her in trouble one day and when it does, he hopes she suffers greatly and he never has to see her again.

* * *

To Gale's dismay, he frequently crosses paths with Cashmere. They live with only a floor between them and attend three of the same lectures: Accounting, Economics and Calculus. If they were not core courses, Gale would have dropped them in a heartbeat. The tuition fare would be a small loss if it meant that he could sit in his classes without developing a migraine.

Gale learns how fortunate he is to not have to listen to Cashmere's whiny mouth spew argumentative slander in his tutorial along with lecture. While Gale would feel sympathy for Finnick, who is subjected to Cashmere's atrocious demeanor during tutorials, he is a big believer in karma and thinks his friend brought it upon himself. If Finnick did not want anything to do with her, he should not have flirted in the first place.

"Either she bitches at our TA for 'obviously' not having the right answer, which our TA definitely does, mind you, or she cries her fucking eyes out because she doesn't get the material. Listening to her cry is like a drill echoing in my skull." Finnick laments, with his head lolled back against the edge of Delly Cartwright's mattress. Finnick and Gale had ducked away from Gale's floor-wide birthday party, hosted by half the swim team. After they became heavily intoxicated from a slew red Solo cups filled to the brim with beer, they fumbled their way up to Madge and Delly's dorm room to crash for the night.

"But the crying won't stop until she gets the material, so I have no other choice but to help her!" he continues, clawing at his skull, "And helping her is easier than listening to her bitch, but she doesn't even say 'thank you'."

"Awww, poooor Finnny," Delly slurs from atop her mattress as she pulls Finnick's hands out of his hair. "The mean lady needs to be nice to generous, caring Finny," she giggles, weaving her fingers between the thick, wavy strands.

"Don't 'cha think little old generous, caring me deserves a reward for my valiant efforts?" Finnick asks, looking back at Delly. His green eyes wide and innocent as his jutted, pouting lips reach up to hers with the smallest space between them.

Gale watches from his seat across the room as Delly Cartwright contemplates, through her drunken haze, whether or not to reward Finnick for his hard work. Delly has not hidden the fact that she is attracted to Finnick and grateful for his friendship. Gale knows Finnick well enough to see when he is taking advantage of situations to indulge his lust and Delly is far too sweet and naive to resist Finnick's games.

"I think he does," Madge giggles from her spot in Gale's lap, "but Delly, shouldn't be the one to do it." Gale looks down at his girlfriend, as her head shifts from side to side on his thigh. Smiling up at him, Madge places a finger to his scowling lips. "I think Gale should do it, he could use the practice."

"Wait, what?!" Gale says incredulously. His eyebrows shoot into his hair line as the others begin to laugh. "Why the hell do I need practice when I've got you, baby?" But the comment only gets Madge and their friends to double over themselves in a howling laughter.  
Finnick is the first to recover. "I'm taking it she never told you then?"

"No shit Sherlock," Gale rolls his eyes. Madge shifts up and out of his lap into an upright position, but her head lolls back down onto his shoulder.

"I kinda made a bet with Finnick last year," Madge mumbles, her lips peppering kisses along the base of his neck and across his collarbone. "That I could convince you to talk to him and eventually be friends."

"It was my idea," Finnick interjects. "Madge said she'd pay me fifty-dollars if she lost. But I upped the ante. Betting with money is so common, besides she was giving me this hungry, sultry look and-"

"Fuck you, I was not!" Madge shoots Finnick a glare as her lips peel off Gale's skin with a pop.

"Were too! Anyways, so I said that if she could convince you to mosey on down the hall and come say hello, I'd give her a kiss. But being the faithful girlfriend that she is, she countered with me kissing you instead." Finnick shrugs, giving Gale a sloppy yet playful grin.

Gale blinks, rubbing the sensitive spot on his collarbone from where Madge had suckled on his skin. He turns to Madge, who gives him a sheepish, little girl look. It is the first time Gale wants to be mad at his girlfriend. But he cannot find it in himself to stay mad longer than a few seconds. His sweet little Madge had only done what she does best, look after those she cares about. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he pulls her into his lap.

"So, should I give him that kiss now or later?" Gale smiles at them. Delly and Madge smile back at each other, after exchanging a small look.

"Later," they chime in unison. "When we're sober. I don't want to forget the look on your faces," Delly adds with a sharp laugh before it's abruptly interrupted. A scream tears through the empty hallway. Her blue eyes widen in alarm.

Shuffling out from around Finnick, Delly pokes her head out the open door and down the hall. Gale finds himself and Madge following her. Peering around the doorframe Gale spots Cray, their custy fourth year Resident Assistant, pushing Cashmere up against the wall. Her hands pressed up against his chest as he leaves kisses on her neck, while his knee is securely between her legs, hoisting her up higher.

Gale finds himself stunned into temporary immobility. He wants to move and rip Cray's filthy hands off he woman of his unfortunate desire, but he cannot. All it takes is that moment of hesitation for Finnick, standing his full height of six foot three, to push past Gale in sudden frustration and rage.

Gale watches Finnick pass him and take one of his clenched fists and slam it into the cement above both Cashmere and Cray's heads. Successfully making both individuals jump, Cray looks up at Finnick with hint of fear in his eyes but he does not let go of Cashmere.

"Walk away," Finnick says, sternly with narrowed, possessive green eyes.

"Why, she your property or something, Odair?" Cray asks, giving Finnick a smug grin. "I don't see your name on her." Cashmere squeaks in disgust as her heel finds Cray's inner foot causing him to pull away in startling pain. Taking advantage of his moment of weakness she knees Cray in the groin.

Doubling over, Cray falls against the opposite wall with a groan. The group watches Cray recover, slowly, his breath regulating. Licking his gray, chapped lips, Cray pops them with a shake of his head after his eyes sweep over Finnick and Cashmere's position by the door. Guiding himself upright with the assistance of the wall, Cray chuckles lowly, "You've got quite the woman there. She's a keeper."

"I am not a man's property, you repugnant fool!" Cashmere shrieks, "Especially not Finnick Odair's."

"You keep telling yourself that, darling," Cray says to her. They watch as he begins to walk away, slowly and carefully towards the elevator. Of the three standing in the doorway, not one of them takes a step forward. When Delly tries to approach them, Gale holds her back. Cashmere is a time bomb with an unknown detonation time. Getting caught in the crossfire would be detrimental.

"You're a fucking dumbass," Cashmere spits as she turns to face Finnick.

"You're very welcome, Cash, helping you is always a pleasure." Finnick rolls his eyes, earning him a forceful shove. But he does not so much as sway.

"I didn't ask you to!" she shouts. "I was in complete control."

"Sure you were. That's why he had you pinned to the fucking wall for Christ's sake! You weren't going anywhere unless he wanted you to!"

"Men," she guffaws in Finnick's face, her eyes level with his as she perches herself on her toes. "You all have big, fat egos that need to be stroked don't you? Some need to fuck a hot girl to feel satisfied. Others, like you, just have to come and save the poor fucking damsel in distress to help you sleep at night, don't you?"

"I was being chivalrous. I guess you must be as shit with the English language as you are with Accounting, if you don't know what it means."

Opening her mouth in preparation to rebut, Cashmere closes it soon after. Sucking her lip between her teeth, Gale notices the thoughtful look in her blue eyes.

Chewing on her lip, which is inches away from Finnick's, she falls off of her toes and back down to her original stature. Looking past Finnick and towards the group, she spots Gales first. And it is he who catches the nefarious look in her eyes.

"I'm well aware of what chivalry is but I honest to goodness, whole-heartedly feel that you have this obsession with helping me," she says, sashaying her boney hips towards the group hanging outside of their dorm room. "I bet Birthday Boy thinks so too."

Cashmere's small feet stop right in front of Gale. Balancing on her toes once more, she runs a red painted finger along the contour of his lower lip. He steps back, putting much needed distance between them as he reaches out to Madge, grabbing a hold of her hand, tightly. But it does not provide sanctuary from her advances; it only makes the smirk on Cashmere's lips pull higher. Taking a step forward, she sifts her hands through his coal black locks, tugging his face down, forcefully, to meet hers. Cashmere kisses him hard. Her teeth tug forcefully as his bottom lip as she shoves her tongue into his throat without consent. She tastes of cheap beer and weed.

"I'm not his property," she whispers, pulling away from Gale. "He can't do whatever he likes, when he feels like it." Cashmere says louder than before. The mischief in her blue eyes begins to flood with desperation as she watches Finnick intently while he fidgets uncomfortably in his spot.

Stepping away from Gale, Cashmere swiftly walks past a steaming Madge and confused Delly. Prepared to pass a shell shocked Finnick, Cashmere finds herself stopped as he grips onto her wrist as she makes a step past him. Swinging her around, he twirls her into him and envelopes her in a hug.

What Gale thought he knew about the relationship Finnick and Cashmere have developed, no longer makes sense. He can feel Madge's hand loosen as she looks up at him with an identical look of confusion as Delly's.

"I promise I'll be less impulsive," Finnick says to her softly. She nods, pulling away after she squeezes him gently.

"Monday, after tutorial then?" she asks, her voice small.

"Remember to brush up on your 'please's and 'thank you's," he jabs gently with a smile. Rolling her eyes, she shoves him gently as she picks up her red pumps and walks a couple doors down to her room.

The moment Cashmere's door shuts, Madge storms back into her room screaming in frustration. Gale wants to hit his head hard against the wall as his sympathy for Finnick withers and dies like a dandelion in the snow.

* * *

During their third year, Gale finds himself and Finnick in and out of diving competitions bi-monthly. They travel across to California and down to and around Texas and Alabama before they make a pit stop in Miami. After having a rough morning, with the appealing of scores, which was ultimately not decided to be in their favour, having dinner with the Odairs cheers Gale up considerably.

They are exactly as Finnick described them. His easy-going, quiet mother offers him more to eat while his grandmother, Mags, insists that eating too much today will only slow him down in the competition tomorrow. Finnick's sister, Penny, drills him with questions about his girlfriend and how she feels about him leaving all the time.

Like Primrose Everdeen used to.

While his brother Sebastian spends ten minutes at the table before disappearing to go back up to his room.

Which reminds Gale of his brother Vick.

Lastly, Finnick's father is every bit as overbearing, sports oriented and money conscious as Finnick claimed. But it did not bother Gale at all. If anything, it reminds him of his youth, when his father was around and they would sit at the table and enjoy Sunday dinner together. Then the Everdeens would come over for dessert and the two families would talk and play games until Prim could not keep her eyes open any more.

Being with the Odairs feels like home.

When they arrive back in their hotel room later that night Gale makes a phone call.

"Hello?" comes the familiar Virginian twang through the receiver.

"Hey, Catnip."

"Gale?"

"That'd be me."

"Long time no hear," he can tell by the inflections in her voice that she is smiling. "How have you been?"

"Y'know school's school. Competitions are getting tough. When we get back we're going to have to up the ante with a more difficult routine. Auburn University just handed us our asses to us on a silver platter. It was humiliating! I never want to have to go up and appeal for a score ever again."

"Sounds horrifying," she hides her laugh horribly. Not that this surprises Gale, Katniss Everdeen is a horrible liar. Her boyfriend on the other hand, Peeta Mellark, makes up for it with his ability to weave an intricate lie on the spot. A little like this roommate.

"How about you, Catnip? Still living with your mom?"  
The silence that comes next causes a handful of worst case scenarios. What if Katniss wasn't well? What if her mom passed? What if they, too, found themselves consumed by their debts? The clock ticks on as the silence grows longer. Finnick's dreadful singing only adds to the pounding in Gale's ears.

"Catnip? Everything alright."

"Oh. I don't live with her anyone. Peeta and I … we have an apartment together."

"Congratulations!"

Silence ensues once more causing the crashing of the bathroom door to scare Gale out of his wits.

"Gale…" her voice cracks.

"Yeah?"

"I'm going to have to call you back, alright?"

"Katniss, is everything alright?"

He does not have to see her to know she is shaking her head, or that her nails are digging into her phone like they always do when she is crying.

"Is it about Peeta?" He can hear a crash and scream in the background. What rings loudest is the shriek for Katniss.

"I'll tell you everything later. I have to go." And she hangs up before he can get another word in. Gale looks up to see Finnick standing in nothing but a towel and a raised brow but he shakes his head. Placing his cellphone by his bedside, he makes a point of leaving it on before crawling between the sheets. Katniss is his best friend, he knows her better than anyone else. And he knows when Katniss Everdeen makes a promise she keeps it. She will call him back. Weeks pass by but she never does. It is as if his family is slipping through his fingers all over again.

* * *

It is four o'clock in the afternoon – which Gale designates as his nap time– when the staccato rapping on his door resonates through the room. Being too lazy to get up, he ignores the knocker in hopes that they will soon learn the room is empty and leave. However, the rapping does not cease and to Gale's discontent, grows quicker and louder.

"Finnick, I know you're fucking in there!"

Of course, the person to wake Gale on this fine Saturday would be Cashmere.

"There is probably a very good reason as to why he's ignoring you, so leave."

"Hawthorne, where is he?"

"Even if I knew, I probably wouldn't tell you."

Cashmere sighs, her head making the tiniest thump on the door, "Would you call him for me, please? He didn't show up for our study session and I really need his help or else I'm going to fail my finals."

Gale bolts from his bed and opens the door, ignorant of his messy appearance. "Did you just say please?"

She narrows her eyes, "I don't appreciate you patronizing me. Would you just call Finnick and ask him where he is?"

"Hard to say no to someone who asks so nicely. Give me your phone." Gale says.

"Why?"

"So I can give you his number."

"I have his number; he just won't answer for me. He might answer for you though."

"What did you do this time?"

Cashmere rolls her eyes, "Nothing. Just get a hold of him, please."

Grabbing his phone off his desk, Gale flips through his contacts before he arrives at number he wants. The dial tone rings and rings and rings and rings and rings before going to voice mail. Giving his phone a quizzical look, Gale tries again. It is not like Finnick to not pick up when he calls.

Once more, after five rings it goes to voice mail.

On Gale's third attempt, now worried that Finnick is dead in a ditch somewhere, the phone gets picked up after the second ring. "What is it, Hawthorne? I'm busy," Finnick answers, breathily.

"Too busy to tell me you're not dead."

"What the fuck? Hawthorne if you have nothing to say I'm hanging up."

"Cashmere, she came by looking for you and -" Gale is interrupted by an indignant groan and a string of profanity.

"I'm _tutoring_ Lavinia right now; tell her I'll call her when I'm done."

Gale chuckles, knowingly, causing Cashmere to raise one of her perfectly shaped eyebrow. "He says he's tutoring Lavinia right now and he'll call you when he's done," Gale repeats.

"Tutoring or_ tutoring_?" Cashmere asks, embellishing the latter option with a brisk thrust of her hips. Gale shrugs. Rolling her eyes, Cashmere motions for Gale to hand her his phone. He shakes his head.

"Gale, give me the phone or so help you god I will castrate you!" Cashmere threatens. Complying with the empty threat, he hands her the phone which she sets to loud speaker.

"Hello?" Finnick calls out, his voice loud and clear in the small room.

"Finny," she starts in a sickly sweet tone, "What is this about you tutoring another woman? Are you cheating on me now? I don't tolerate cheaters."

The line goes silent for a moment as fabric ruffles. "Cash, I'll call you in an hour. Don't contact me before then." Finnick sighs.

"You better! I don't want to be blown off again so you can get your cock sucked. I'm a busy woman," she says curtly, hanging up immediately. Handing Gale back his phone, she gives him a smile. "Thank you, Hawthorne."

"No problem?" he raises his eyebrow as he pockets his phone.

"I'll see you around then," she says, turning around and giving him a bright smile.

"Alright." Gale says, shoving his hands in his pockets. Her fingers curl wave as the stiletto heel on her shoes click away. Closing the door once she is a fair distance away from their room, Gale crawls back into bed.

But sleep does not find him. Instead, his mind goes back to Katniss. It's been 6 weeks and she has not called him back yet. He is tempted to call her himself but Madge insists he wait. Katniss always makes good on her promises. The realistic ones at least. For the first time, something terrible has happened to Katniss Everdeen and there is nothing he can do to help her.

Another series of knocks come what seems like minutes later, interrupting his thoughts.

"Who is it?" he calls.

"Baby, it's me. I brought lunch."

"The door is unlocked." He sits up as Madge walks in with a small Styrofoam bowl of soap. Placing it on his desk, she opens the plastic lid and the aroma of his mom's chicken noodle soup fills the room. The exact same kind his mother would make when he was a child sick in bed.

"Madgey, how did y-?"

"Your mom taught me back in eleventh grade when you were sitting with Rory overnight. Today, I asked Greasy Sae to lend me her kitchen and she was more than happy to, so voila! Bon appetite."

And it happens before he has processed the words in his brain. With flashes of his mom smiling that small, tired smile of hers but always finding the energy to encourage him, Rory's high pitched stutter as he tells Katniss all about Madge, Vick sneaking bread to feed to the squirrels and the day of Posy's birth floating through his head he says, "Madge, marry me."

Those clear blue eyes of hers blink at his, blankly, before they fill with the animation of her laughter.  
"Oh Gale, you flatter me."

"No. I mean…" he quickly pulls his hand through thick hair before he gets down on one knee. Taking her hand in his, he asks again, "Madge Maysilee Undersee, will you marry me?"

"This is…Gale I….you don't even have a ring!"

Rising from his knee, he looks around the room. What could he possibly fashion into a ring? Scanning the room his eyes lay rest on a small length of rope sitting on Finnick's end table. Wrapping it around her ring finger he ties it off with a bow. "I'll buy you a real one, but for now this will do."

"Y-you're…"she stammers.

"Yes."

Her eyes gloss over with tears as she wraps her arms around his neck and plants a firm kiss onto his lips, "Yes, of course I'll marry you."

After that, Gale does not find himself worrying over Katniss Everdeen. She is not his family like she used to be. She has Peeta; he has Madge and that is enough.

* * *

Unlike the majority of his generation, Gale is not technology savvy. He chalks up his inexperience with computers and cell phones to his deprivation while growing up. Not that anyone takes the time to mock him for it; he is much too popular for anyone to care about such an insignificant detail.

After reclaiming their first place scores against Auburn University in their next large competition in California, Gale and Finnick became two of the most sought after young athletes of the decade. Signing contracts with agents from The Capitol opened door after door for endorsements and sponsorships with the companies for sporting goods, nutrition, fitness and grooming. Over the months, Gale and Finnick have sat in and out of meetings with their agents discussing various deals and contracts. Every time a series of six digits – or more if they were lucky – was offered to them, Gale could feel tiny bunches of fireworks go off in his brain. His cut of the money could buy his mom a house in the heart of the city.

Currently in a conference with Coriolanus Snow and his executive team, they discuss the fine details of their contract with Panem Sporting Goods, Gale spots Finnick tapping away at his cellphone underneath the conference table. Gale kicks him in the ankle, causing Finnick to jump and drop his phone in his lap.

'Catherine Reitz' illuminates through the shining backlight along the top bar. He tries not to groan audibly. Of all the days and all the times to message him, she decides now would be it? Finnick scrolls through the message full of small talk and it only reinforces Gale's belief of her inappropriate timing. However, as Finnick continues to scroll up, Gale realizes his judgement had been premature. Finnick seems to have been the one to initiate the conversation, with the phrase "I think I'm going to hang myself." Gale could not help the snort that comes out of his nose.

"Is there a problem, gentlemen?" the President asks them with a thin, raised, white eyebrow.

"No, everything is alright," Finnick looks up from his lap and smiles graciously at Snow. Giving them a wary look, he slowly turns back to continue his presentation on what is it that Panem would like them to endorse in the Fall.

When the meeting finally ends, Finnick is the first one to burst out of his seat, shake everyone's hands and leave. Gale watches as the President grimaces and Caius, the president's son, hides a chuckle.

"If Mr. Odair wasn't a guaranteed money maker, I wouldn't have thought twice about hiring a replacement after this afternoon. Would you kindly inform him of that, Mr. Hawthorne?" The President says, dryly. Gale plasters on the best fake smile and the least forced laugh he can muster as he collects and heads out of the conference room.

* * *

"It's Thursday and we haven't gotten to enjoy a single day of Summer Break yet," Finnick whines from his place atop his mattress in their hotel room. His eyes are fixated on the dashboard of his phone, waiting impatiently for a new message to come through.

Coming out of the bathroom, fully clothed and a towel around his neck Gale shakes his head. "It's a working vacation. Mr. Heavensbee said after tomorrow at two we'll have the weekend to ourselves. Then we start shooting our first commercial for Panem Monday after training."

"Really?" Finnick sits up with smile. "Thank god," he falls back against the pillow again just in time for another message to come through. Gale watches as Finnick's face becomes aglow and those long fingers of his tap rapidly at the tiny keyboard with an energetic rhythm.  
"Who are you talking to?" Gale prods gently, making his way across the room.

"Catherine," Finnick says, with a growing smile as his fingers continue to type. Gale stops. Not once since they have met has Finnick called or referred to her as Catherine. And not once has he done so with a smile.  
"What are you two talking about?" Gale inquires, carefully. Finnick holds up a hand as he types the last bit of his messages and presses send.

"She's at her beach house in Malibu right now. Apparently her brother got into some tiff with the cleaning staff over the air freshening scent used in his bedroom. We were joking around about him being a fruit," Finnick laughs breathily.

"Um-hm," Gale hums, toweling his hair off again.

"She's coming up to L.A.," Finnick yawns, as he places his phone on his bedside table. "And asked her if we wanted to have dinner with her and her friend, interested?"

Gale narrows his eyes, "Really, Odair? Dinner with her?"

"A simple 'no' would have sufficed," Finnick sighs, getting up and reaching into his suitcase for a change of clothes. Victor brand-named sweats and a t-shirt would not be appropriate for the dinner Cashmere probably has in mind.

Gale watches as Finnick picks out clothes with the utmost care from his place at the hotel desk. Every time it looks as if he has finalized his decision, Finnick changes his mind and begins to rematch his shirts and slacks. It is not as if Gale has not seen Finnick care about his appearance before. But something feels different this time. It is like he is trying to make an important first impression. A more important impression than at this morning's meeting, where he sat in blue jeans, a blazer and a white t-shirt.

"So you're friends with her now?" Gale asks, nonchalantly, turning on his laptop. As Finnick slips into a pair of black jeans and a dark blue button down shirt, he looks over at Gale while rolling his shoulders with a shrug.

"As much as I can be friends with her," he answers, picking up his phone off his bedside table and making his way towards the bathroom. "She's still a bitch, but it's more tolerable than before."

Gale nods, running the towel once more through his thick hair, "Does this friendship include sex?"

"What? Oh God no," Finnick says, walking back into the bedroom, smelling heavily of cologne with his hair slicked back with gel. "Trying to please her would be more hassle than it's worth."

Gale bites down on his tongue, hard, suppressing the snide comment that wants to slip past his lips. Turning to his laptop, now fully loaded with all the appropriate programs, he logs into Skype. And like every day since he last spoke to her, Katniss Everdeen remains offline. Slumping back in his chair, Gale rests his head along the top ledge.

"It's really no use being a miserable about it. Katniss will get a hold of you when she can," Finnick hums, looking over Gale's shoulder at the empty list of contacts.

"It's been 12 weeks, Odair." Gale shoots him a look.

"You'd be miserable too." But the effect the suggestion has on Finnick does not satisfy Gale. Finnick carelessly shrugs off the idea.

"Didn't you say her boyfriend's got some sort of condition?" he asks. "From what you've told me about her, she likes to focus on one thing at a time. I'm sure she hasn't forgotten about you." He continues with a smile. "You're kinda hard to forget anyhow, especially with that scowl on your face."

"You're an ass."

"I love you too." Finnick grins, cheekily. Gale huffs and turns his attention back to the screen in time for a window to pop up at the corner.

Madge Hawthorne is online.

And suddenly, it is as if nothing else matters. That the last 12 weeks of his life waiting for a message from Katniss had not mattered. That Finnick is not on the cusp of ruining his career because of a girl. Seeing the box with Madge's full name, flashing, as she sends an invite to video chat, all his turmoil dissipates with the simple request.

Gale does not notice the squeeze Finnick gives his shoulder or the soft click of the door as he leaves for dinner. Gale sits there with a grin on his face as Madge smiles back at him, her eyes brimming with tears as she greets him 'hello'.

It is all worthwhile.

* * *

Gale is not ready to leave Los Angeles just yet. It is a beautiful city to live in, temporarily. With it being constantly full of life and gold, refreshing sun, Gale found himself going to surf in the early morning and swim, leisurely, late at night. His three month long working vacation gave him a different kind of freedom than the type he gets back home. It had been perfect!

As much as Gale knows he would love to extend his vacation, the thought of leaving his fiancée by herself any longer was enough incentive to bring him home. He misses wrapping his arms around her slim waist and hoisting her up into the air when he kisses her. He misses holding her close when they sleep and most of all he misses the sex. Slumping back in his seat, Gale cannot help but smile. Only a few more hours now and he goes back to being all hers all the time.

Out of the corner of his eye, Gale catches a man fall into the seat beside him, with a groan. Even with the sunglasses covering his fresh tan and sensitive eyes, he knows it is Finnick. Gale stifles a laugh the best he can but the sound carries past his lips anyway, earning him the finger.

"Have too much fun last night?" Gale says with a smile. Finnick groans, again, lolling his head onto the back of the plastic airport waiting room chair.

"Considering it was his long overdue 21st birthday party, I would be insulted if he didn't have fun," Cashmere voice chimes in as she sits down across from them waiting to board the same flight back to Illinois.

"If you call going shot for shot with your boyfriend and his friends for sponsorships fun," Finnick speaks loud enough to be heard over the airport noise, but not loud enough to bother his hangover.

"Caius is not my boyfriend, first of all. Second, I told you he has a high tolerance and that you weren't going to win that bet."

Peeling his aviator's off his face, Finnick looks directly at Cashmere with a glint in his eye and a smirk on his lips, "I never said anything about regretting it. Somersaulting out of a pike off the balcony of your bedroom into the pool was worth it. It's too bad I had to do it all by myself."

"I kinda promised Madge a future, it would be counterproductive to kill myself at this point in the game," Gale looks over at him, irritatedly. Finnick shrugs and pushes his sunglasses back on his face, leaning his head back once more.

"Still worth it. Seneca said he'd get us a meeting with his Dad after that. You should be thanking me."

"When Mr. Heavensbee calls us with a contract, then I'll thank you," Gale smirks.

"Mr. Hawthorne, I'm seeing a completely new side of you! All ambitious and headstrong, it's kind of sexy," Cashmere purrs, teasingly as she licks her lips. Gale shakes his head and rolls his eyes while Finnick laughs, for a moment, before he shoves the heel of his hand into his forehead.

Gale sighs through a weary smile. Madge or no Madge, one more week would be nice.

* * *

"Boys, I have good news for you!" Gale and Finnick's coach, Atala,exclaims excitedly approaching them as they lift themselves out of the pool after a morning of training. It is their first session back in Illinois and it makes Gale miss the leisurely swimming. He is own worst critic when it comes to their routine and making sure the two of them are in perfect sync. Gale pushes them harder than their coach does and it surprises him that Finnick does not resent him even a little for being ruthless. But the tough love pays off and they both know it. They would not be half the team they are without it.

"Did Heavensbee call with another offer?" he asks as he towels off his dark head and hairless body.

"I've got better news than that," Coach Atala smiles wider. "You remember me talking briefly about Olympic Trials coming up, right?"

"Briefly as in every morning for the last three months or every hour on the hour since we got back?" Finnick inquires, with a raised brow, as he pulls his swim team hoodie over his head.

"Another sarcastic comment from you and you're doing 20 laps," their coach narrows her eyes at Finnick, whose amusement immediately falls from his face. "Anyway, I've been informed that the both of you have qualified for the trials next summer. This means we will have to tack on a couple extra hours of training a week, but I'm confident that the two of you can handle it. Congratulations!"

Gale stops, the towel in his hands slipping to the floor as he stares straight at his coach. Then over to Finnick and back to his coach. They qualified for Olympic Trials. The two of them actually qualified! If they make the top fourteen, they will go on to represent Team USA!

Before Gale can find the words, he feels Finnick's arms wrap around him and squeeze him tightly. Finnick's laughter bounces loudly off the walls and Gale can only find himself squeezing his friend back, joining him in his excitement.

They can be Olympians. They can potentially have far more money at their disposal than Gale could have ever imagined and he can take care of Madge, properly, never having to worry ever again.

* * *

It is not only Coach Atala who toughens the boy's regime; Gale refuses to let Finnick slack for a moment. Every time Finnick oversleeps for so much as five minutes, Gale pushes him to swim an extra fifty meters. And if Finnick is late for more than half of training, Gale steps back and lets their Coach punish his partner.

Finnick does not begin to make this a habit until a week after he comes back from Winter break. And it downright pisses Gale off.

It becomes a daily occurrence where Finnick would either not be up and ready to run track at five o'clock in the morning, having slept in, or he would not be in their room at all, hence missing the alarm all together and arriving at the pool hours later. Gale also finds there is always some insufficient excuse that comes with Finnick's tardiness. 'I was upstairs at Catherine's until one in the morning.' 'Catherine and I were studying all night for the test this afternoon.'

that Saturday, Gale loses his patience with Finnick.

"The actual fuck is your problem?!" Gale shouts, shoving his roommate into a wall of lockers in their change room. "It's ten in the morning! You were supposed to be here five hours ago!"

Finnick winces under Gale's tight grip on his shoulder. He holds his ground as he gives Gale a sheepish smile,looking up from under his bangs. "I'm sorry, Catherine asked me to go with her to a doctor's appointment this morning. It ran longer than I expected it to."

"The little bitch has got you running errands with her, too?" Gale voice echoes in the large room, making him suddenly aware of his surroundings, as well as the rigidness of Finnick's shoulders beneath his hands.

"I said I was sorry. I'll be more careful next time," Finnick pushes Gale back, gently, pivoting on his heel and shuffling over to his locker.

Gale sighs, running a hand through his dark, wet hair, "I don't know why you can't just let her go. She isn't your responsibility. You don't need to take care of her. You have a life too."

The jiggling of the lock stops. Silence hangs in the air as Finnick stands in front of his locker, perfectly , without warning, the open lock that Finnick has in his hand is snapped shut and whipped across the room.

Gale jumps.

"If it were ... Delly… who asked you to go to an appointment with her, would you?" Finnick croaks.

"Well yeah," Gale says, quietly, looking directly into Finnick's green eyes as they begin to drown in a sea of clear tears, rimmed in bright red. He has never seen Finnick cry before. And the sight hurts Gale far more than he could have imagined.

"Exactly. Delly is important to you, and you'd help her regardless."

"But with Delly it would be a one time thing! She wouldn't make a habit of always asking for my help!" Gale tries to reason again. "I need you, Finn. I can't do this without you."

Finnick shoots him another new expression full of exasperation. "There are more important things than having cash in your pocket and your face plastered all over billboards and magazines," he says, pulling his shirt over his head, exposing a large fresh, purple bruise on the inside of his shoulder. Gale feels his heart drop into his stomach.

"I didn't think I hit you that hard. I'm sor -"

"Save it," Finnick slams his locker shut, picks up his lock and re-fastens it through the door before walking out of the change room. "It's not your fault."

Gale wants to call after his friend, but the tear that drips off his chin stops him.

* * *

Gale tries to forget about the morning as best he can. He avoids going to their room, the library, and the gym, as well. He decides to make camp in an isolated corner of the study rooms in the Science Laboratory Building, where he sits twirling a pen round and round, watching for Katniss Everdeen to appear online. But after almost a year now, her name still remains amongst his offline contacts.

It is after seven in the evening when Gale finally decides to heads back to his room, trudging along, listening to Oasis, with the strap of his backpack tight within his fingers. He steps off the elevator onto their floor, with heavy steps, when he sees the two of them. They are leaning up against each other, their backs to the wall and her hand resting on his thigh. It looks cozy and for the first time since Gale has met Madge, he feels like she is beyond his reach.

Gale walks up to the pair slowly, closing the distance. He turns off his music and catches tendrils of their conversation.

"What kind of man would I be if I didn't take responsibility for my actions, Magpie?"

"Not much of one," Madge laughs, in that tinkling tune Gale loves so much, usually reserved just for him. "You're going to have to tell Gale you know."

"I know," he sighs.

"Just... remind me not to be there when you do."

"That'll be difficult considering I'm right here," Gale says with a frown. Their bright, eyes dilate as they stare up at him. Finnick's full of shock and fear. Madge lets go of Finnick's thigh and bolts onto her feet. She takes a step towards Gale. He takes a step back.

"So what is it that you have to tell me?" Gale can hear his heart pound in his ears as the anticipation tears him apart.

"I -" Finnick starts. He stops and sighs before starting again. "This morning. I hadn't been completely honest with you."

"Alright," Gale says, his voice cracking while he grips on his backpack tighter. Finnick pushes himself off the floor and leans with his bad shoulder against the wall.

"I'm dating Catherine. It's my responsibility to take care of her. So if she wants me to go to the doctor with her, I have to go. I'm bound at the wrist." Finnick shrugs, carelessly. Gale feels his heart slow down as he takes a step closer to them. Unfurling his hand from around his backpack, he reaches out and weaves his fingers gracefully into Madge's.

Gale wants to call Finnick out on his bullshit. He wants to fling his simmering anger at the friend who underestimates him. Having lived under the same piece of ceiling for the last three years, Gale knows when his best friend is lying. The authenticity in Finnick's eyes do not match his demeanor and smile.

However, Gale bites his tongue and smiles. "Was that so hard?"

"You took it a lot better than I expected," Finnick shrugs, stepping back to block the door as Gale comes up beside him.  
Gale's eyebrows knit together.

"Cathy's asleep. She kind of had a meltdown during dinner and it's better if you just leave her be right now," Finnick says, as a crack splits in his mask and his lips tug down into a frown.

"Wake her up and carry her to her room or something, then."

"Gale, it's fine. If you're tired we can just go up to my room. Delly went home for the weekend, we have the place to ourselves," Madge offers, perching on her toes to his cheek and tugs him towards the elevator. Gale's eyes flash over to his fiancée, who is smiling brightly with a tinge of lust as she runs her tiny pink tongue over her bottom lip. Cashmere is probably sleeping in Finnick's bed anyhow.

Letting himself be guided away by Madge, Gale turns back briefly to see Finnick smile and wave at them. The mask breaking apart piece by piece as the couple gets further away. He looks exhausted and miserable. However, Gale still cannot find it in himself to feel sorry for his friend. If Finnick is going to be dishonest, then he deserves what he gets.

* * *

Despite his promise, Finnick is not more careful about being on time for training. In fact, every few days he decides to skip out all together, making practice pointless. Every time Gale tries to confront him about it, Finnick pushes him away with a slew of excuses. They only have a month left of classes before exams, and three left before graduation and Trials.

"Finnick has the rest of his life to spend waiting hand and foot on Cashmere. Is three more months of hard work really that much to ask?" Gale asks loudly as he paces the length of Madge's dorm room.

"Gale," Madge says, so softly that he cannot hear her over the shuffle of his feet.

"He's putting our asses on the line every time he decides he doesn't want to show up! It's the fucking Olympics, Madge; it feels like he doesn't even know what that means!"

"Gale," she speaks a little louder, but he does not look her way. His gaze is on the floor as his pacing gets quicker, his thumb nail between his teeth.

"Though, I really shouldn't be all that surprised. Caius warned me she'd be trouble. He said they weren't fucking, but I'm pretty damn sure Finnick has been waist deep in her pussy over since the summer. I know I wouldn't let a complete cunt of a study partner throw me a birthday party unless I was sleeping with her. "

"GALE WILLIAM HAWTHORNE, WILL YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP ALREADY!" Madge shouts, alarming Gale. He turns to his fiancée as her head pokes out from behind piles of books. Some were psychology, many were wedding-related. However, the book Madge has opened on her desk does not fall under either category. Closing it and revealing the topic, Gale raises an eyebrow. Isn't it not a little soon to be thinking about being a mother? Gale does not have time to dwell on this idea for long as his attention is taken away from the book and focused solely on Madge, who is red in the face with genuine anger.

"Since the first time you've met him, all you've done is harp on Finnick and his decisions. Has there ever been a point where you bothered to try and understand why!" Madge shouts in Gale's face. "If you stopped complaining for five minutes and went to talk to him - which I know you haven't - then I'm sure you'd get your answers!" she spat at him, her face now a bright shade of violet. She has never yelled at him before. Not like this anyhow, making him look like an idiot standing there with his mouth open.

"And you know what makes it all that much worse?" Madge continues, further silencing Gale. "Is that on top of having to listen to you whine about your roommate, I have finals to study for and a wedding to plan.

"Do you have any idea how difficult that is, especially having to do it all by myself! I am more than happy to wait a little longer. But no, you were the one who wanted the wedding this summer. So, I'm busting my ass over something it seems like you don't even care about anymore. I'm ready to fuck the whole thing!"

Gale opens his mouth, then closes it again as Madge gives him a teary look.

"All this dwelling makes it seem like Finnick's more important than me."

Gale feels the corners of his mouth tug into a frown. He would hardly say Finnick is more important, but then again, he has not been inattentive to Madge as of late. He has not thought about their wedding at all, besides how it conflicts with the date of the Olympic Trials. Then again, passing the Olympic Trials meant a secure future for him and Madge. Regardless, Gale would definitely not consider Madge any less important.

"Madgey, that's not true," Gale says, quietly, reaching out to her. "You will always be the most important person in my life. I am doing all this for us."

Madge sighs, relaxing in her desk chair. "Gale, do you remember what I told you on our last night in my room before you moved into the new house?"

"Not particularly," Gale says, after thinking about it for a few moments. Madge sighs again, shaking her head this time before her face falls into her hands.

"Go." Gale can hear the hiccup in Madge's words. He does not move. "Please, Gale. Go. Talk to Finnick. Try to understand where he's coming from. I know he's not trying to hurt you."

So he does. Leaving Madge to cry silently to herself before she throws the Expectant Mothers book on the ground.

When Gale steps foot on his floor, he does not have to go very far to find Finnick. His roommate is standing outside of their dorm room, talking solemnly to a pair of men who are caring large cardboard boxes. Moving day is not until the end of April, why would he want to leave before then? Gale wants to call out, but he cannot find his voice. His vocal chords are tight with dread.

Inching closer to the small group, Gale watches as Finnick shakes hands with the moving men, a sad smile on his lips before he turns back into their room, leaving the door wide open. He almost follows Finnick all the way inside until he spots Cashmere, sitting on Finnick's bare mattress with her back against the wall and a hand on her stomach. Gale situates himself against the wall outside of their door, not wanting to be seen yet.

"You are sure you want to leave like this? " Cashmere asks, in a quiet yet strained voice. "It's kinda cold of you."  
After some time, Finnick answers. "I'm going to leave him a note."

Silence hangs in the air, once more. Peeking into the room, Gale watches as Cashmere idly pulls her fingers through Finnick's hair and massages his scalp as his head lays rest in her lap. "He's your best friend, I think you owe him an in-person explanation."

"I know," Finnick mumbles. "It's not like I haven't tried, it's just … I could never… timing is everything, Cath."

"And you think a note will miraculously make timing a non factor?" Cashmere asks, each word dripping with sarcasm. "If I didn't know any better I'd ask you if you have a vagina."

Gale knows that Finnick is rolling his eyes.

"There is never going to be a good time to tell him. You just gotta suck it up and do it! It'll be easier for him to handle if you explain the whole situation to him before and in person. If you tell Gale after, he's only going to resent you," Cashmere says, causing Finnick to sigh.

"That's what Madge said."

"Then you should listen to the girl that knows him bes—oh!" Cashmere gasps.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" Finnick's voice raises half an octave in riddled panic.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Though, I think he likes Madge's idea too," Cashmere says with a smile. "Put your hand here."

The room goes silent again.

"Wow," Finnick's voice wavers. "Hey there, little guy. You really think I should tell Uncle Gale about you, huh?" Finnick lets out a hardy laugh and it makes Gale sick to his stomach.

He does not realize he is on his feet and standing in their doorframe until he is staring Finnick down. His green eyes are wide with fear and regret. Gale does not care though. All he can feel is that rush, like the initial plunge into a pool. As his body falls through the air, he can feel his stomach tighten and flip before the surrounding water numbs him.

The pregnant silence remains as Gale peels his gaze from Finnick and focuses it over to Cashmere, who looks far less afraid but infinitely more guilty. Gale blinks once, twice. Then he follows the curves of Cashmere's body downward until he reaches the noticeable bump. He can tell she is not very far along. Gale remembers, distinctly, what his mother had looked like when she had been carrying Posy. He had accompanied her to a great deal of her appointments when his father was busy at work.

Gale's eyes snap up from Cashmere's stomach to Finnick, who has now put some space between Cashmere and himself. Why is he such an idiot?! Why did he not realized this sooner?

"Gale, I can explain," Finnick says, his green eyes shining with intensity.

"Don't bother," Gale tries to keep his voice even as his hand clenches and unclenches. "It's over. It's all over." He breathes in and out, slowly, as his hands unclench for the final time and he briskly walks out of their room.

No.

His room.

Finnick will be gone soon. And Gale will never have to see the deceptive piece of shit he once considered to be family again.

* * *

As Gale begins to clean up the mess Finnick made of their professional diving career, he realizes he was the last to find out.

Finnick had apparently informed their coach four weeks before, requesting to still be listed as an active athlete so that his scholarship would remain unspoiled. He also informed their agent, Plutarch Heavensbee, that he is leaving the company and Caius Snow that he can no longer be under contract with Panem Sporting Goods. That was two weeks ago. And lastly, there is Madge, who smiled sadly at Gale and gave him a hug when he came into her room three nights ago. Gale did not have to ask to know she knew the longest.

Gale struggles with finals. Every attempt he makes to study becomes consumed by Finnick's lingering presence. The familiar sound of his voice as it hums, badly, to the melody of a pop song, the drop of his pen on his open textbook before he starts to twirl it again, and the smell of his deodorant.

Gale does not want to miss Finnick, but he cannot help it. Finnick was only trying to do what was best for the unexpected child; he did not intend to let Gale down. He did try to balance it all. Though, Finnick is far superior at balancing equations than relationships.  
Maybe he should let Finnick explain.

However, Gale's willingness to listen is long forgotten on the day they graduated.

"What do you mean you're not coming home?!" Gale's voice rises to new heights as Madge stands before him in her graduation gown,her bright blue eyes avoiding his sharp gray ones. Heads of nearby family members swivel around to look at them, but Madge deflects their nosiness with a sweet smile.

"I'm staying here for a couple more weeks," Madge says quietly as she drags Gale away from large groups of people. She weaves him through tables and chairs until they reach a secluded area of the back gardens, where the school has decided to hold the ceremony and reception. "You'll barely even notice I'm not there."

"Barely even…" Gale nearly shouts, but takes a deep breath instead. "Madge, we're getting married next weekend. I'm sure as hell going to notice when you're not at the altar."

"I'vepostponedit…" Madge trails off as she pulls her pink, glossed bottom lip between her teeth.

"You've what?"

"I've postponed it," she says, with a little more confidence staring at into his eyes this time. Gale's mouth hangs open and gapes as it struggles to produce a sound.

When Gale finally finds his voice, the 'why' that passes his lips cracks.

"I … I don't think we're ready for it," Madge's voice cracks too as she holds back tears. "We haven't even lived together yet. How do we know it's going to work if we don't take baby steps first?"

"We've been together for eight years! You've lived a floor above me for half that time. Is that not enough?" Gale retorts, clenching his hands. "Am I not enough?" He can feel his heart shatter as he utters it, but it is Madge's tears that fall first. He rushes to catch them with the pad of his thumb.

"You've always been enough and always will be. I've … just spent a lot of time with Finn and Catherine lately. He's rushed into things with her because of the baby, and it's done nothing but make him miserable," Madge inhales, spinning her diamond engagement ring on her finger. "I don't want you to regret it later and be unhappy."

Gale takes her restless hands into his own, gripping them tightly before threading his fingers through hers.

"Regret being with you? I couldn't possibly." Gale leans down and kisses her softly. "I've wanted you since I was fourteen. I want you when I'm twenty-two and I'll want you when we're ninety-four. I love you, Madge. We're not them. We've known half our lives that this is what we've wanted. Nothing is going to change that."

Madge places another kiss on his lips as she wraps his arms around her. "I still can't believe you hit your head on the wall," Madge giggles, squeezing her fiancé's hands tightly. "Your depth perception sucks."

"I don't know about that. I've injured myself 60% less than I used to." Gale shrugs, as he squeezes back. Back then, it had not been depth perception that was the problem. But explaining that they met because he was watching an attractive senior walk by is not something Gale deemed appropriate to tell his nervous fiancee.

Madge's tinkling laugh fills their small vicinity as they walk back into the thinning crowd. One large group stood out though, as the laughter floated through the air loudly. Gale recognizes it as Madge's father. He has always had a hearty laugh, one that makes Gale miss his father from time to time. Her parents stand amongst the crowd with Gale's mother and siblings, Cashmere, her parents, Finnick and his grandmother and sister.

They approach the group slowly and quietly. Cashmere spots them first with her tired eyes and offers a weak smile.

"So nice of you to join us finally, you two have a nice little chat?" Cashmere says, her usual edge woven into her words but lacking genuine malice. Finnick is not the one who shoots an admonished look. It is, instead, Gersemi Reitz. Gale has not seen him before, and it surprises him.

As a man with a tremendous reputation and the CEO of one of the top twelve companies in the world, Gale expected the man to be more powerful-looking with broad shoulders and a stern look. However, Gersemi Reitz is anything but. He is a slender man with silver streaked blond hair, a thin goatee and dressed in a slimming gray dress shirt, a pair of dark slacks and black loafers. The way his blue eyes soften as they remove their gaze from his daughter and towards Madge makes him seem gentle, warm and fatherly.

"Yes, our chat went fine. Everything is good," Madge smiles at Cashmere. "Thank you again for letting me stay in your home for the next few weeks, Mr. and Mrs. Reitz, I really appreciate it."

"You're more than welcome! We're thrilled to have you," Gersemi chuckles. "Keeping Catherine relaxed is something even her brother can't do."

"My pleasure, I'm very happy to be a part of all this. It's kind of exciting!" Madge says with a smile. "I'm very much looking forward to it," she adds, squeezing Gale's hand. Letting go of it roughly, he locks eyes with Finnick. He drops Gale's gaze immediately, shying away from the circle.

"Yes, because pushing a child out of my vagina is oh so exciting." Cashmere rolls her eyes earning her a cool look from Gale. "What's wrong now, Hawthorne? Is the thought too much for you to handle?"

"Cath," Finnick warns, gently. "Leave it alone."

"Why?" Her shrill voice screeches. "So he can sit there and look down on me like the rest of the world does?!"

"Catherine, you're being incredibly rude," her mother chastises, making her grumble and fall to the seat behind her. The group falls into an awkward silence. Gale turns away from Cashmere over to Finnick, who stands protectively behind her with his dull green eyes and idle hands that pull through her hair gently.

Cashmere's shoulders relax as she stretches out on the folding chair with a smile on her face. Finnick does not smile back. If anything, he looks as if he is about to cry.

"You suggested Madge stay here, didn't you?" Gale says quietly, but Finnick hears his words loud and clear. "You had her postpone the day we've been waiting for since we were sixteen years old; all so she can help take care of your stupid girlfriend!" His voice crescendos, bringing attention to himself.

Finnick refuses to look up from where he has begun to brain a section of Cashmere's hair.

"Isn't that your job? Isn't that why you're here, why you threw our careers away so you could take care of her and that stupid kid?!" He points at the large swell under Cashmere's graduation gown.

The group goes quiet. Cashmere opens her mouth, ready to throw it back in Gale's face but Finnick puts a hand on her shoulder. His docile eyes brim with tears and he takes a deep breath.

"You're right. It was my idea to get Madge involved. I thought we might need a little extra help. Cath isn't handling this as nicely as Penny did, " Finnick laughs, but no one joins in. "I'm sorry you got caught in the crossfire of my mistakes. I never wanted that. I wanted you to have a good life, Gale. It's what you deserve." Finnick's tone remains even as he breaths through his nose. Finnick's sister offers him comfort with a gentle kiss to his head.  
For the first time, Gale feels sorry for Finnick. His friend never asked for any of this. Especially not with her.

"You're really lucky, you know. Even though your career is shot, you still get to go home to a family that loves you. To a best friend that misses you," the words tumble out of Finnick's mouth before anyone realizes he is speaking again. Penny holds onto him tightly as his voice almost succumbs to his sadness. "I would give anything just to have half of that."

Gale can feel his chest tighten as the full force of Finnick's words hit him. When he told his mom that he would no longer be bringing home the big cheques, she told him she was proud of him and that with a degree in Technical Engineering, he can do many other things.  
Finnick's parents, on the other hand, were angry with him. His father was probably fuming about how much of a loser his eldest son is while his mother, in her worrisome nature, probably blamed herself. At least his sister and grandmother still cared.

Posy's unsuspecting fingers bring Gale out of his thoughts. Looking down at his sister's sadness and confusion, he scoops the little girl into his arms. She already saw one family fall apart in her lifetime, she does not need to see another.

"Y'know," Gale starts, "If there was anyone who was going to understand what you're going through, it would have been me." He then turns away from the group and heads towards the campus parking lot, his mother and brothers following behind them after a rushed set of goodbyes.

Gale does not want to see their faces, hear any more voices that will make him stop, or turn back and face them. He knows, too, that he has made a fool of himself and he is not ready to own up to his mistakes, either.

* * *

By the second week after graduation, Gale has a part-time job teaching swimming to young children and begins helping around the house where he can. Just like old times.

"I really missed you," his mother tells him as she cooks dinner and he sets the table. "Thank you for coming home."

Gale looks up after he places the last fork on the napkin. His mother turns to him, her eyes glistening in the light as she offers him a large grin. Taking the pot of steaming pasta from her hands, he puts it back on the element and envelopes her in a hug.

"I missed you too," He says, holding her tightly.

"Have you heard from Madge?" Hazelle asks, pulling herself away from her son's embrace and going back to the pasta.

"We email back and forth. She's doing well. She really loves the Reitz home and doesn't think she could ever move back into her parents' home here. I told her that she better lower her expectations fast because my earnings can't meet her expectations yet," Gale says with a smile.

"Send her my best as well as to the Reitz' and Finnick, alright?"

Gale pauses, before placing the last glass down on the table. "Sure. I'll let her know."

Hazelle smiles, "One last favour, can you go get everyone. Dinner's ready."

Gale nods as he bounds up the straight staircase to the upper level of their town house. He was able to save some of the money from his career as a spokesmodel, allowing his mother to put a down payment on this quaint town house last fall. It thrilled his family to no end that they could finally afford a house again.

Gale knocks on both Rory's and Vick's doors simultaneously, earning him equally scowling looks. Over the years Rory's vision improved immensely with the radiation and experimental drugs. Rory now has ninety percent vision in both eyes.

"Dinner's ready," Gale announces, causing his brother's scowling faces to drop and a smile to cross their faces as they chase each other down the stairs. Rolling his eyes at their teenage antics, Gale then walks into his bedroom for a moment. Sitting down in his computer chair, he logs back onto his laptop. A new email is sitting in his inbox.

From Madge Hawthorne. Opening it up instantly, the email reads

_July 15, 2006 2:04pm_

_Gale, _

_It's been 17 hours of what can only be equivalent to hell; at six pounds and seven ounces Noah Odair is born. _  
_I've attached a picture of the two of us. He's absolutely adorable, Gale! I really want a baby now! _

_Love always, _

_Your Madgey._

He re-reads it three times before it sinks in. Hovering his cursor over the attached file, Gale hesitates. Does he really want to see the six pound mass of flesh and bones that has caused him nothing but trouble? Madge with a newborn baby would make the heartsick less though. Gale is about to click on the attachment when Posy's big lungs shout for her brother.

Taking a deep breath, Gale re-locks his computer and heads down for dinner. The baby can wait.

When Gale reaches the bottom of the landing, the doorbell ringing catches him by surprise. Looking through the glass pane beside the door, he nearly rips the door off of its hinges. Standing on his front step, with her eyes pointed down and her dark hair in its usual braid, Katniss Everdeen offers him a sheepish smile and a soft hello.

Sweeping her off her feet, he pulls her into a bone-crushing hug. Maybe the kid being born is a sign of good luck finally coming his way.


End file.
